Imo CP: Drone Locates NYSC Kidnappers’ Den, But IEDs Impede Raid

Police in Imo State have tracked down the hideout of suspected kidnappers holding NYSC members and other victims hostage.

Police Commissioner Audu Garba Bosso said drone technology helped pin down the exact location in the bush. However, the rescue operation is currently on hold as intelligence reveals the area is heavily mined with homemade explosives.
Security forces have deployed to the scene and are proceeding with caution to ensure the safe release of the victims.

“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 coordinates showed us where they are,” he said.

According to him, the drones provided security operatives with the exact location of the abductors, but the presence of IEDs around the camp posed a major challenge to the operation.

“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs.”

He added that security forces were preparing to deploy heavy equipment, including high-velocity vehicles, bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, to gain access to the area and rescue the victims.

“We are moving in there with high-velocity vehicles. We are moving with bulldozers and APCs to see how we are going to rescue these victims,” he said.

The victims were among passengers abducted after suspected gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on October 1.

The buses were carrying prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in the South East and South South when they were attacked around the Umunoha axis of the road in Mbaitoli Local Government Area.

The Command had earlier said 10 victims were rescued at the scene, while the exact number of those still in captivity was being verified.

The Defence Headquarters subsequently said 20 passengers were abducted from the two buses, including several prospective corps members, while 10 passengers, among them eight identified prospective corps members, had been rescued.

It said a joint search and rescue operation involving troops of Operation Udoka, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, with support from the Nigerian Air Force, was ongoing to locate and rescue the remaining victims.