Abducted NYSC Members: Police Locate Abductors’ Camp, Delay Raid Over IEDs

The Imo State Police Command has located the suspected camp where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in the state are believed to be held, but security operatives have delayed a raid over fears that the location is planted with improvised explosive devices.

The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed this on Saturday while giving an update on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation.

Bosso said security operatives had tracked the abductors into the bush before deploying drones on Friday to identify their exact location. According to him, the drones successfully provided the coordinates of the suspected camp.

However, the police could not immediately move into the location because intelligence indicated that the camp had been mined with IEDs.

The commissioner said security agencies were taking precautions to avoid putting the lives of the abducted corps members and rescue personnel at unnecessary risk.

He said plans were underway to move into the area with heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, to facilitate the rescue operation.

The prospective corps members were abducted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The victims were travelling in two buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors when gunmen reportedly attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

The Managing Director of the transport company, Isiah Akpan, said the abductors took 19 passengers, identified as prospective corps members, into the bush. The drivers reportedly escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint.

The incident prompted security agencies to launch a search operation, with additional tactical teams deployed to the area.

The police command had earlier announced that 10 victims were rescued following the attack, although authorities said it was not immediately clear whether those rescued were among the prospective corps members abducted from the buses.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the kidnappers have contacted some families of the abducted victims and demanded ransom for their release. Some relatives were reportedly contacted through the phones of their missing family members.

The development has heightened pressure on security agencies to secure the safe release of the victims while avoiding casualties during the operation.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has also deployed senior police officers to Imo State to coordinate intensified search-and-rescue efforts.

Security agencies are continuing intelligence-led operations to track the abductors and rescue the prospective corps members.