By Amofokhai Williams
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 after days in captivity.
The victims were rescued on Wednesday, bringing an end to a six-day ordeal that triggered a coordinated search-and-rescue operation involving the police, military, Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies.
They are currently receiving medical attention at the DSS Hospital in Owerri, where the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, visited them on Wednesday.
Nafiu, who addressed the rescued victims, 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 were travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in the South-East and South-South when gunmen attacked two buses around Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area on October 1.
The attack initially produced conflicting accounts over the number of people abducted and rescued. Police reported that 10 passengers were rescued after the attack, while the families of the prospective corps members maintained that 20 graduates had been taken into the bush.
The Defence Headquarters later reported that 30 passengers were on the two buses, with 20 abducted and 10 rescued, including eight prospective corps members.
As the search continued, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, alongside additional tactical teams and operational assets to Imo.
Security agencies subsequently located the suspected hideout of the abductors using intelligence and drone surveillance. However, an immediate assault was delayed after intelligence indicated that the camp might have been planted with improvised explosive devices.
The Imo Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, said security forces were preparing additional equipment, including armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers, to approach the location safely.
The operation also came amid mounting pressure from the victims’ families, after the abductors reportedly demanded an initial ₦1 billion ransom, calculated at ₦50 million for each of the 20 victims.
The demand was later reportedly reduced to ₦100 million, or ₦5 million per victim, while relatives expressed fears about the condition of the captives.
The successful rescue now brings relief to the families after days of uncertainty and intense public concern over the safety of young Nigerians travelling to fulfil their national service obligations.
