Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Imo State Police Command has identified the location where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in the state are being held, but security operatives have delayed moving into the camp over fears that it is planted with improvised explosive devices. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed this on Saturday in a media interview while giving an update on the search-and-rescue operation, saying the police used drones on Friday to locate the suspected camp after security operatives trailed the abductors into the bush.
“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,” Bosso said. “But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs”. He said the security agencies were preparing to move into the area with heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, in an effort to 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,” he added.
The development comes two days after gunmen abducted prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The victims were travelling in two buses when the attackers struck along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday, October 1, 2026. The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, told Saturday PUNCH that the abductors took 19 passengers, all prospective corps members, into the bush. He said the drivers escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting security agencies to commence a search of the area. The Imo State Police Command had earlier said 10 victims were rescued, although its spokesperson, Henry Okoye, could not confirm whether the rescued persons were among the abducted prospective corps members. The latest development indicates that security operatives have narrowed down the location of the remaining victims as efforts continue to secure their release.
The abductors have reportedly demanded N50m for each of the 19 victims, amounting to N950m, with some families contacted through the phones of their abducted relatives. One of the victims’ mothers, Mrs Oladosu, told Saturday PUNCH that the abductors contacted her family through her daughter’s phone and that the family saw some of the victims during a video call. Another parent, Mrs Alimotu Akanke, whose son Akande Farouq was travelling to Abia State, said he managed to send a one-word distress message to the family WhatsApp group — “Kidnappers!” — before his phone became unreachable. “They confirmed it. He’s a twin, the second person was going to Enugu. That second person was making a video, and that’s what they sent. We even saw their bag inside the vehicle, confirming it was their vehicle. Only the driver escaped,” she said. “I am begging the Nigerian Government, all security agencies, and the NYSC management, whatever they can do, please help us”.
The National Association of Nigerian Students, Southwest Zone D, raised alarm over the ransom demands and called on the Federal Government to review compulsory long-distance postings and introduce safer deployment and transportation arrangements. The association demanded the immediate implementation of the risk-sensitive deployment framework approved by the Federal Executive Council in June 2026 as part of comprehensive NYSC reforms. The reforms include a technology-driven call-up process, risk-sensitive deployment to improve the safety of corps members, a redesigned six-week orientation programme, skills-based primary assignments and improved orientation camp standards. NANS argued that the latest incident underscored the need to move from policy approval to practical implementation, calling for state-based or zonal service options until the security situation improved.
The deployment of the DIG Operations and two Commissioners of Police underscores the seriousness with which the Nigeria Police Force is treating the abduction. The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Shehu Umar Nadada, and two Commissioners of Police to Imo State to coordinate and intensify the search-and-rescue operation. The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, said Nadada arrived in the state with the two Commissioners of Police and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and the ongoing rescue efforts. The assessment was conducted alongside the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Audu Garba Bosso, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, CP Akpan Anifiok, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Police Mobile Force, other service commanders and members of the management team of the Imo State Police Command.
For the families of the 19 abducted corps members, the deployment of senior police officers represents both a source of hope and a painful reminder of the vulnerability of young Nigerians who travel long distances to serve their country. The ransom demand of N950 million, if confirmed, is far beyond the means of the families involved, many of whom are petty traders and low-income earners. The coming days will determine whether the intensified search operation yields the safe rescue of the remaining victims and whether the perpetrators are apprehended. The police have urged anyone with credible information to come forward, stressing that all information will be treated with strict confidentiality. As DIG Nadada put it, the Nigeria Police Force is committed to securing the safe rescue of the 20 abducted persons and will sustain the operation until the mission is successfully concluded.
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