Security Agencies Intensify Search For Abducted Corps Members

The 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, and the Imo State Police Command say they are working around the clock to secure the rescue of the kidnapped 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members kidnapped in Umunoha, Ogbaku, in the Mbaitoli local village of Imo State.

19 prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, in two commercial buses heading to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State, were attacked by gunmen at about 6:30am, at Umunoha, at a spot known as “No man’s land”, Ogbaku in Mbaitoli local government area of Imo State, last Thursday around 6am.

Public Relations Officer for the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, Major Hashimu Sa’ad Abdullahi, said the Army was working with other security agencies to rescue the prospective corps members.

Abdullahi said, “The situation is receiving the required attention, and every available avenue is being explored to ensure a positive outcome. We will keep you informed of any significant developments as they become available”.

Spokesperson for the Imo State Police Command, DSP Henry Okoye, said they were closing in on the kidnappers, adding that more information will follow soon.

Okoye said, “We’re conducting the operation and gradually closing in. We will keep you posted”.

Sources said all the security agencies were working together on the rescue efforts.

Meanwhile, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, said the command, through surveillance drones, had identified the location where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in the state are being held, but that security operatives have delayed moving into the camp over fears of improvised explosive devices.

Bosso said the police had used drones to locate the suspected camp after security operatives trailed the abductors into the bush, but were being cautious because intelligence indicated that the camp had been mined with IEDs.

The Imo Police boss said, “Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. Yesterday, we were in the bush, and we trailed them up to a particular location.

“But at that point in time, we couldn’t move into where the coordinate showed us where they are because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us their exact location. But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the IED is—the camp is mined with IEDs”, he said.

Further, Bosso 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, 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 said.

Meanwhile, parents and family members of the kidnapped prospective corps members have appealed for help when they visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at his private residence in Bodija, Ibadan, alongside the state Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, and the Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Sefiu Adeyeri.

Alhaja Akande and Oyebola Akande, who spoke on behalf of the affected families, said the abductors had contacted them through the mobile phones of the kidnapped prospective corps members.

According to them, the abductors reportedly demanded ₦50m for each of the 19 victims, amounting to ₦950m, with some families contacted through the phones of their abducted relatives.

“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. There is no way we can raise such an amount at this period. Baba, kindly assist us. ” Don’t let them kill our children,” the parents said.

They appealed to Oba Ladoja and the police commissioner to intervene and secure the immediate release of their children.