The family of Peace Onyesom, a newly called-to-the-bar lawyer, and her sister, Gift, abducted along the Okene-Auchi road on Friday, has revealed that the kidnappers are demanding N40m ransom for their release.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Adaeze Onyesom said that Gift had been in contact with another sibling until her line went off. “About an hour after our youngest sibling called her, someone else picked up the call and said he was a policeman and that she had been kidnapped. The policeman said that they found her phone in the bus and that they had gone after the kidnappers,” she explained.
Adaeze further disclosed that the abductors initially demanded N100m before reducing it. “When they (the kidnappers) contacted us on Friday evening, they told us that we should bring N100m, but we told them we could not get such an amount, and we pleaded with them. On Saturday, they called back and reduced it to N20m, but we told them we could only raise N3m, but they declined. After a while, they called us back to say that they were not collecting anything less than N20m for each person, which is N40m for the two of them. We appealed that it was only N7m that we could raise, but they did not agree. They called us this morning (Sunday) and allowed us to speak with our sisters who were pleading that we should raise money,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, wrote on X: “Of the 12 persons kidnapped on Friday, September 26, 2025, along the Okene-Auchi Road, eight have been rescued by the police in conjunction with the military. Concerted efforts are in top gear to ensure the safe rescue of the remaining four victims.” However, Adaeze maintained that the bus manifest only listed eight passengers and that a police source in Okene denied any rescue had taken place.
The Nigerian Bar Association, in a statement signed by its President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), condemned the abduction as “unacceptable and utterly condemnable.” The association said, “The Nigerian Bar Association has received with shock and deep concern the distressing reports of the abduction of one of our young colleagues, Onyesom Peace Udoka, a newly called lawyer, alongside her sister, around the Lokoja–Okene axis in Kogi State while returning from the recent Call to Bar Ceremony in Abuja. It is heartbreaking that at a time when our nation should be celebrating the future of the legal profession, young lawyers and their families are subjected to such harrowing ordeals. No family should have to endure this trauma, and no citizen should live under the constant fear of insecurity on our roads.”
The NBA called on the Federal Government and security agencies “to rise to the occasion, act with urgency, and ensure the immediate and safe release of our colleague and all others in captivity.” Osigwe further demanded stronger measures to secure highways and restore public confidence, stressing that “the NBA stands in solidarity with the families of the abducted victims in this difficult time, and we pray that God grants the victims a safe and speedy return to their loved ones.”
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