Police Find Camp of Kidnappers Holding NYSC Members, Delay Action Due to Bomb Threats

The Imo State Police have found the place where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members are being held. But they are delaying action because they fear the area is filled with bombs.

The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Garba Bosso, shared this news on Saturday during a media chat. He gave an update on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation.

Bosso said police used drones on Friday to track down the camp after following the kidnappers into the bush. But he mentioned that they were being careful because their information suggested the camp was dangerous.

“Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. Yesterday, we were in the bush, we trailed them up to a particular location.

“But at that point in time, we couldn’t move in to where the coordinate showed us where they are because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us exactly their location.

“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the IED is, the camp is mined with IEDs,” the commissioner said.

The police are getting ready to enter the area with heavy equipment, like bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, to rescue the victims safely.

“We are moving in there with high, you know, high-velocity vehicles, that is, bulldozers, we’re moving in with bulldozers and APCs to see how we’re going to rescue these victims unhurt,” he added.

This news comes two days after gunmen kidnapped the prospective corps members while they were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The victims were on two buses when the attackers struck on Thursday along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State.

Isiah Akpan, the Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, told Saturday PUNCH that the kidnappers took 19 passengers, who were all prospective corps members, into the bush.

He said the drivers managed to escape and quickly informed security personnel at a nearby checkpoint. This led to the start of a search in the area.

The kidnappers are reportedly asking for N50m for each of the 19 victims, which adds up to N950m. Some families have been contacted through the phones of their kidnapped relatives.

One mother of a victim, Mrs Oladosu, told Saturday PUNCH that the kidnappers called her family using her daughter’s phone. She said they even saw some of the victims during a video call.

Earlier, the Imo State Police Command had announced that 10 victims were rescued, but the spokesperson, Henry Okoye, could not confirm if those rescued were part of the abducted corps members.

The latest news shows that security forces have pinpointed the location of the remaining victims as they continue their efforts to secure their release.