The Imo State Police Command says it has identified the location where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in the state are believed to be held, but security operatives have delayed moving into the area over fears that the suspected kidnappers may have planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) around their hideout.
The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Bosso, disclosed this on Saturday while providing an update on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation.
Bosso said security operatives had successfully tracked the abductors into the bush before deploying drones on Friday to identify the precise location of their suspected camp.
According to him, the drone surveillance successfully pinpointed the location, but intelligence reports indicating that the area had been mined with IEDs prevented security personnel from immediately advancing into the camp.
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“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.
He explained that security operatives had to exercise caution after the drone revealed the exact location of the victims and their abductors.
“But at that point in time, we couldn’t move into where the coordinates showed us they were because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us exactly their location.
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“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs.”
The police commissioner said security agencies were making preparations to enter the area with specialised equipment and armoured vehicles in a bid to rescue the victims safely.
He said bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) would be deployed as part of the operation.
“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 followed the abduction of prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The victims were travelling in two buses when gunmen reportedly attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.
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The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, had earlier announced that 10 victims were rescued following the attack, while the command said it was still working to establish the exact number of people abducted.
However, conflicting figures have emerged over the number of prospective corps members still being held.
While Commissioner Bosso referred to 19 victims believed to be in the kidnappers’ camp, reports quoting relatives of the victims have put the number at 20.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has meanwhile intensified the rescue operation by deploying the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, alongside two commissioners of police to reinforce the operation in Imo.
Nadada arrived in the state on Friday and reviewed the personnel, operational strategy and assets deployed for the rescue mission.
The police said tactical teams and other security personnel remained actively engaged in efforts to locate and safely rescue the remaining victims.
Meanwhile, families of the abducted prospective corps members have intensified calls for urgent government and security intervention, amid reports that the kidnappers have demanded ransom for the release of their victims.
The latest development has heightened concerns over the safety of the abducted corps members, as security agencies face the added challenge of navigating a suspected booby-trapped hideout while attempting to secure their safe release.
