Security agencies in Imo State have reportedly located the hideout where 19 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) are being held following their abduction along the Owerri-Onitsha Road.
The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed this while providing an update on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation on Saturday.
The prospective corps members were reportedly travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom when gunmen attacked the two buses conveying them.
The incident occurred on Thursday in the Umunoha area of Imo State, according to reports.
Bosso said security operatives were able to track the abductors into the bush and subsequently deployed drones to establish the exact location of the victims.
However, he explained that the rescue team had yet to enter the suspected kidnappers’ camp because intelligence reports indicated that the area might have been rigged with improvised explosive devices.
The police commissioner said security agencies were therefore making preparations to enter the area with heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, to minimise the risk to the victims and the rescue team.
According to Bosso, security personnel had already reached a particular point after trailing the abductors but were forced to halt their advance after the drone surveillance revealed the location of the suspected camp.
He said, “Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. 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 IED is the camp is mined with IEDs.
“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.”
The development comes two days after the 19 prospective corps members were reportedly abducted while travelling to their orientation camps.
Authorities have continued efforts to secure their release, with security operatives exercising caution over concerns that the kidnappers may have planted explosives around the location.
