Security operatives, including the military, Department of State Services, DSS, and the police, have rescued 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members and one civilian kidnapped in Imo State.
The victims were rescued during an intelligence-led joint operation by the security agencies.
The rescued prospective corps members and the civilian are currently receiving medical attention at a DSS facility in the state.
The victims were abducted on October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State while travelling in two commercial buses from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. 03f8
Following the abduction, troops of the 34 Artillery Brigade, alongside personnel of the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force, DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and local vigilantes, launched offensive operations, including an early morning operation in Amakohia Forest on Saturday, October 3. 03f8
Security sources said the kidnappers contacted families of seven victims using the abducted persons’ phones and demanded N50 million per victim, amounting to N1 billion for the 20 victims. The demand was later said to have been reduced to N5 million per victim, bringing the total to N100 million. 03f8
Operatives of the DSS reportedly geolocated the telephone numbers used for the ransom calls to support tracking efforts. 03f8
The Inspector-General of Police deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Shehu Umar Nadada, to Imo to provide operational direction for the rescue mission. 03f8
The Imo State Police Command had earlier said 10 passengers were rescued at the scene, while parents of the victims insisted the 10 escaped into the bush during the attack and were not rescued by security operatives.
