The 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who regained their freedom after being abducted in Imo State have reportedly been given the option of choosing any of the six South-West states for their national service.

Naija News reports that the graduates were released on Wednesday after spending days in the custody of suspected kidnappers who abducted them while they were travelling to their respective states for the mandatory one-year national service.

A parent of one of the freed victims told Punch that the graduates had been allowed to choose any state in the South-West to continue their service with the current NYSC batch.

According to the parent, the arrangement would enable the survivors to continue their national service without having to travel to areas they might consider unsafe following their ordeal.

“They have been given the opportunity to choose states in the South-West to continue their service with the current batch,” she said.

The 20 prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 along the Owerri-Onitsha Road, near Umunoha in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

They were travelling in two commercial buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors and were reportedly heading to Abia and Akwa Ibom states when the suspected kidnappers attacked them.

The abductors were said to have demanded a ransom of ₦50 million for each of the graduates.

The Imo State Police Command announced on Wednesday that the victims had been rescued at Amakohia Ubi Village in the Owerri West Local Government Area of the state.