The Imo State Police Command has located the camp where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road are being held, but security operatives have delayed raiding the hideout over fears of improvised explosive devices.
The Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed this on Saturday, saying security agencies were preparing to enter the bush with bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers to rescue the victims safely.
Bosso said drones deployed by the police on Friday helped to establish the exact location of the abductors’ camp after operatives trailed the kidnappers into the bush.
He, however, said intelligence reports indicated that the camp had been mined with IEDs, forcing the security agencies to exercise caution.
“Yesterday, we were in the bush; we trailed them up to a particular location.
“But at that point in time, we couldn’t move in to where the coordinate showed us where they are because we ran drones yesterday.
“And the drone actually showed us exactly their location.
“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs,” the commissioner said.
Bosso said the security agencies would deploy heavy equipment before moving into the camp in an attempt to avoid casualties during 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 19 victims were abducted on Thursday when gunmen attacked two buses conveying prospective corps members from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The attack occurred along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State.
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, had told Saturday PUNCH that the abductors took 19 passengers, all prospective corps members, into the bush.
According to him, the drivers escaped from the scene and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting the commencement of a search operation.
The abductors have reportedly demanded N50m for each victim, bringing the total ransom demand to N950m.
Some of the families were allegedly contacted through the phones of their abducted relatives.
One of the victims’ mothers, Mrs Oladosu, said the kidnappers contacted her family through her daughter’s phone.
She also said the family was shown some of the abducted victims during a video call.
The police command had earlier announced the rescue of 10 victims, although its spokesperson, Henry Okoye, could not confirm whether those rescued were among the prospective corps members abducted on Thursday.
The latest development, however, indicates that security operatives have narrowed down the location of the remaining victims as efforts intensify to secure their safe release.
The police commissioner’s disclosure came amid heightened concern over the safety of the prospective corps members and their families as security agencies prepare for the operation.
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