By Chukwudi Obasi
Twenty prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and another passenger abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have regained their freedom following a joint operation by security agencies.
The victims, who were abducted on October 1 while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states, were rescued on Wednesday and taken to the Department of State Services (DSS) Hospital in Owerri for medical attention.
The development brings to 21 the number of persons confirmed to have regained their freedom, comprising 20 prospective corps members and one other person who was travelling with them.
The rescue was carried out by a joint team involving personnel of the DSS, the military and the Nigeria Police Force, according to a security source cited by TheCable.
The victims had been travelling in two commercial buses from Ibadan when gunmen reportedly intercepted the vehicles around Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
The incident initially generated uncertainty over the exact number of persons abducted, with the Imo State Police Command confirming that 10 victims had been rescued shortly after the attack while saying the total number of abducted persons was still being verified.
The Defence Headquarters subsequently said the gunmen had abducted 20 persons from the two buses, while 10 passengers, including eight prospective corps members, were initially rescued by security personnel.
Security agencies thereafter intensified their search for the remaining victims, deploying additional personnel and operational assets to track the abductors and locate their hideout.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, had deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the rescue effort.
Nadada arrived in the state with two commissioners of police and reviewed the deployment of personnel and operational assets as part of efforts to strengthen the search-and-rescue operation.
The operation was complicated by intelligence indicating that the suspected kidnappers’ camp had been mined with improvised explosive devices.
Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, had disclosed that drone surveillance helped security operatives locate the suspected camp but that the presence of explosives made it difficult for personnel to immediately move into the area.
“The drone actually showed us exactly their location. But our predicament is that with the Intel we have, the IEDs, the camp is mined with IEDs,” Bosso said.
The police subsequently maintained that efforts would continue until the remaining abducted persons were safely rescued.
The successful operation has now brought an end to days of uncertainty for the families of the prospective corps members, who had been anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.
The Director-General of the NYSC, Brig-Gen Olakunle Nafiu, was at the DSS facility in Owerri on Wednesday to meet the rescued victims.
He was accompanied by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, the Director of the DSS and the Commander of the 34 Artillery Brigade in the state.
The victims are currently receiving medical attention at the DSS Hospital as security agencies continue investigations into the circumstances surrounding the abduction and the operation that led to their release.
