Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Nigerian security agencies have intensified efforts to rescue 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in Imo State, with the Imo State Police Command and the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, confirming on Sunday that a coordinated search-and-rescue operation was closing in on the abductors’ camp even as improvised explosive devices planted around the hideout continued to delay a full assault.
The victims were among passengers travelling in two commercial buses from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State, when gunmen attacked them at about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2026, at Umunoha, Ogbaku, in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. The location, described by locals as “No Man’s Land,” has become a notorious flashpoint along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway. Ten victims were rescued at the scene by security operatives, while the remaining 19—some accounts say 20—were taken into the bush by the abductors.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the Imo State Police Command, DSP Henry Okoye, told journalists on Sunday that operatives were conducting the operation and gradually closing in. “We’re conducting the operation and gradually closing in. We will keep you posted,” Okoye said. In a separate telephone interview, the Public Relations Officer of the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, Major Hashimu Abdullahi, said the development was receiving adequate attention and that all security agencies were working together to rescue the kidnapped travellers. “Please be assured that all necessary efforts are being made in collaboration with all relevant security agencies regarding the matter. The situation is receiving the required attention, and every available avenue is being explored to ensure a positive outcome,” Abdullahi said, promising to update the media on any significant developments.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed on Saturday that the command had identified the location where the victims were being held but had delayed moving into the camp over fears that it was planted with IEDs. He said police operatives used drones on Friday to locate the suspected camp after trailing the abductors into the bush. “At any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. Yesterday, we were in the bush; we trailed them up to a particular location,” Bosso said. “But at that point in time, we couldn’t move into where the coordinates 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 camp is mined with IEDs.” The commissioner said 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 unhurt. “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 said.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Shehu Umar Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the rescue operation. The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, said Nadada arrived in the state with two Commissioners of Police and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the situation alongside the Imo State Commissioner of Police, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, and the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Police Mobile Force. The DIG reviewed operational strategies and the deployment of personnel and assets, issuing further directives to strengthen the coordinated response. “The DIG Operations assured members of the public that 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,” Iniedu said. He urged anyone with credible information to contact the police, promising that all information would be treated with strict confidentiality.
The abduction has thrown families into panic, with the abductors reportedly demanding N50 million for each victim, amounting to N950 million or N1 billion depending on the number of victims counted. The parents of the victims, who visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, on Saturday alongside the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, said the abductors had been contacting them through the mobile phones of the kidnapped prospective corps members and had issued a 24-hour deadline. “They have been calling us since yesterday with a demand for N50 million ransom each. They are threatening that anything untoward will happen to our children if we fail to heed their request,” the parents said. “There is no way we can raise such an amount at this time.” The Olubadan assured them that efforts were underway to rescue the victims unharmed, saying, “I want to assure you that your children will be rescued unharmed. The police are working round the clock.”
The Oyo State Government said it was working closely with the Imo State Government and security agencies to secure the release of the 20 prospective corps members of Oyo State origin. The Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, said the state was volunteering the templates and experiences it garnered during the Oriire kidnapping incident and that the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into that abduction, submitted by the Justice Mojeed Owoade-led panel, was being used in the ongoing bilateral discussions. Governor Seyi Makinde had directed that all necessary resources be deployed towards securing the release of the abducted corps members. The Oyo State Police Commissioner said he had been in contact with his Imo State counterpart since the day of the incident and had been assured that the victims would be rescued unhurt.
The abduction has renewed concerns about the safety of corps members undertaking the mandatory national service programme, particularly those travelling long distances to orientation camps in states facing security challenges. 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 Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria also demanded the immediate and safe rescue of the abducted prospective corps members, calling on the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to act decisively. The Social Democratic Party presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, called on the Inspector-General of Police to urgently rescue the corps members, describing the abduction as a grave assault on the safety and fundamental rights of young Nigerians serving their country.
The Defence Headquarters said a joint search-and-rescue operation involving troops of Operation Udoka, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, with support from the Nigerian Air Force, was ongoing to locate and rescue the remaining victims. As the operation enters its fourth day, the coming hours will determine whether the security agencies can safely neutralise the IED threat and reach the camp before the ransom deadline expires. For the families of the abducted corps members, the wait has been agonising, and the assurances from the police and the military offer hope but no certainty. As DIG Nadada put it, the victims are going to be rescued safely. The question now is when, and whether the operation can be executed without further loss of life.
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