NYSC Kidnap: Police Locate Abductors’ Camp, Delay Raid Over IED Threat

Security agencies have located the suspected camp where prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State are being held but have delayed an immediate raid on the hideout following intelligence that the area may have been rigged with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, disclosed this on Saturday, saying operatives had tracked the kidnappers into the bush and deployed drones that identified their suspected location.

Bosso said security personnel could not immediately advance to the location because of intelligence indicating that the camp had been mined with IEDs.

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

The commissioner explained that although the drone operation successfully identified the location, the suspected presence of explosives had made it necessary for security agencies to adopt a cautious approach.

He said bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers would be deployed as part of efforts to gain access to the area and rescue the victims safely.

“We are moving in there with 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,” Bosso added.

The police spokesperson in the state, Henry Okoye, also said security operatives were closing in on the kidnappers and had been briefed on how to proceed with the operation.

The development followed the deployment of additional senior police officers to Imo State by the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to strengthen the search-and-rescue operation.

Disu had deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, alongside two commissioners of police, to reinforce the operation.

Nadada arrived in the state on Friday and reviewed the personnel, operational strategy and assets deployed for the mission.

The prospective corps members were travelling in two buses from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States when gunmen attacked the vehicles along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.

The incident has, however, produced conflicting accounts over the number of passengers abducted and those rescued.

The Imo State Police Command initially announced that 10 victims had been rescued after security agencies responded to the attack. It said the two buses were recovered and that the rescued victims were safe and receiving attention.

The Defence Headquarters later said 20 passengers were abducted, while 10 people, including eight prospective corps members, were rescued by troops and other security personnel.

However, parents of the affected prospective corps members have disputed the official account, insisting that the 10 persons described as rescued actually escaped from the kidnappers and fled into the bush.

The parents said 20 prospective corps members remained in captivity as of Saturday.

They told the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, during a visit to his private residence in Bodija, Ibadan, that 30 passengers were travelling in the two buses when the gunmen attacked.

According to the parents, 10 passengers escaped through the bush while the remaining 20 were taken away by the kidnappers.

Speaking through Alhaja Alimot Akande and Oyebola Akande, the families also raised concerns over the passenger manifest supplied by the transport company.

Alhaja Akande said the families learnt about the incident through a social media post by one of the passengers who escaped.

She said efforts by the parents to obtain the manifest from the transport company were initially unsuccessful.

“We demanded the manifest to ascertain the identities of the passengers on board the two buses but they declined,” she said.

She added that when the company eventually produced a document, the families discovered that some of the affected corps members were not listed.

The parents also said they had asked the company to produce the drivers of the two buses, who they said escaped from the attack, but claimed the request was not granted.

Meanwhile, the families said the abductors had demanded N50 million for each of the 20 victims and issued a 24-hour deadline for payment.

The demand amounts to N1 billion.

According to the parents, the kidnappers contacted families using the mobile phones of some of the abducted graduates and threatened to harm the victims if the ransom was not paid.

“They have been calling us since yesterday (Friday) with a demand for N50m ransom each. They are threatening that anything untoward will happen to our children if we fail to heed their request,” Alhaja Akande said.

The ransom demand has also added to discrepancies surrounding the number of victims.

An earlier report quoted the Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, as saying 19 passengers were abducted, which put the total ransom demand at N950 million.

The parents, however, maintained that 20 graduates were still being held, putting the alleged ransom demand at N1 billion.

At the meeting with the parents, the Olubadan assured them that efforts were being made to secure the safe release of the victims.

“The police are working round the clock to secure their rescue. Don’t worry yourself, the police are up to the task, and nothing will happen to your children,” Ladoja said.

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, who attended the meeting, said he had remained in contact with his Imo State counterpart since the incident.

He said the Imo commissioner had assured him that the victims would be rescued unhurt.

The Oyo State Government also condemned the abduction and said Governor Seyi Makinde had directed the deployment of necessary resources to support efforts to secure the victims’ release.

The state government said it was liaising with the Imo State Government, security agencies and the NYSC leadership over the incident.

As the rescue operation continued, one of the victims’ mothers said she had resorted to prayer while the family sought ways to respond to the ransom demand.

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she was on a prayer mountain praying for the release of her son while members of the family were trying to raise the money demanded by the kidnappers.

She said the family had been unable to sleep since learning of the abduction.

The two buses, operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors, had left the Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday.

Akpan had said traffic around Benin, Edo State, delayed the journey before the buses eventually reached the Onitsha axis later that day.

The passengers and drivers spent the night in the area before continuing their journey at about 5am on Thursday.

According to Akpan, gunmen attacked shortly after the buses entered Imo State, blocked the vehicles and marched the passengers into the bush.

The drivers escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting the search-and-rescue operation.

The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of corps members and prospective corps members travelling to different parts of the country.

Reacting to the abduction, African Action Congress presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Omoyele Sowore, called for the immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the NYSC scheme.

Sowore argued that requiring young Nigerians to travel long distances for compulsory national service exposed them to security risks.

He proposed that corps members should, in the interim, be allowed to serve within their states of origin and suggested replacing the NYSC with a voluntary National Job Corps focused on employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare and education.