The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday arraigned five suspected members of a criminal gang allegedly behind the abduction of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Imo State.
The suspects were reportedly arrested during intelligence-led operations conducted by operatives of the DSS, the military and the police in Rivers and Abia states between October 10 and 14
The defendants face charges of conspiracy, hostage-taking and unlawful possession of firearms in two separate cases.
Three of them, Usman Aliyu, 25, aka Chonge; Babangida Aliyu, 21; and Mohammed Ali, 23, aka Smallie Pepper, were accused of abducting the prospective corps members on Independence Day, October 1, 2026.
According to the charge sheet filed at the Imo State High Court, Oru Judicial Division, Mgbidi, the defendants and others still at large allegedly abducted the victims along the Owerri-Mgbidi-Onitsha Expressway.
The victims were travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when they were kidnapped. They were rescued after seven days.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, an offence punishable under Section 6 of the Imo State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
They were also accused of unlawfully possessing three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol and 81 rounds of live ammunition.
Following the arraignment, the DSS, in a statement on Tuesday, said, “Three of them, Usman Aliyu, twenty-five, also known as Chonge; 21-year-old Babangida Aliyu, and 23-year-old Mohammed Ali aka Smallie Pepper, are specifically charged with the kidnapping of the prospective corps members. They were charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking punishable under Section 6 of the Imp State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
“The defendants were accused of unlawfully possessing three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol and eighty-one rounds of live ammunition.”
In a separate case, Aminu Haliru, 27, and Tange Ibrahim, 20, aka Jijji, were arraigned over the alleged abduction of four persons around Owerri and Mgbidi on October 4.
The prosecution alleged that the two defendants and others still at large collected N8 million for the release of the victims.
They were also accused of unlawfully possessing an AK-47 rifle and a pump-action gun.
The prosecution listed N1.8m as money recovered in the second case, while a DSS investigator and the victims were listed as witnesses in both cases.
