The University of Jos Alumni Association (UJAA) has called for urgent action to secure the release of John Arum Azi, a recent graduate abducted along the Jos–Kaduna highway. Azi, a resident of Plateau State and technician specialising in musical equipment repair, was kidnapped on Saturday while travelling to Kaduna for a client job. His captors, suspected bandits, are demanding N30 million ransom. A video circulating online shows Azi lying face down with a stone on his back, being flogged by armed men who force him to plead for his life. "Please don't kill me, I'm begging you," he says in the footage, which was reportedly recorded on his phone and sent to his coursemates. The UJAA issued a statement on Tuesday through its Global President, Gad Peter, declaring, "This is one of our own." The association urged security agencies to act swiftly, stating, "Every moment matters." Azi's employer, Mr. Jethro Akau, described him as hardworking and well-mannered, currently awaiting NYSC mobilisation. Akau appealed to the abductors for mercy, calling the situation heartbreaking. The UJAA encouraged members and the public to share information responsibly to maintain pressure on authorities. As of the report's filing, no official statement had been issued by security agencies.
Gad Peter, as Global President of the UJAA, is not merely issuing a statement—he is exposing the raw edge of a crisis where alumni networks are forced to double as emergency response units. That a graduate's first post-university journey leads not to NYSC camp but to a ransom video on a highway speaks volumes about the collapse of mobility and safety in Nigeria's Middle Belt. The association's declaration—"this is one of our own"—is less a plea than a rebuke to a state that has outsourced citizen protection to kinship and solidarity groups.
The Jos–Kaduna highway has become a corridor of extortion, where bandits operate with precision, recording hostages with their own devices to maximise psychological and viral impact. Azi's work as a technician repairing car audio systems underscores a broader reality: young graduates are building livelihoods on fragile, informal economies that require constant movement—movement now laced with mortal risk. The N30 million ransom demand is not arbitrary; it reflects the calculated devaluation of life against perceived urban earning potential.
Ordinary Nigerians, especially young professionals from Plateau and surrounding states, face a new calculus: every job, every client visit, every act of ambition carries the risk of abduction. Students who survive university now confront a post-graduation gauntlet. This is not an isolated kidnapping—it is part of a pattern where economic activity in northern Nigeria is being held hostage by ungoverned roads and institutional silence.
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