IMO POLICE LOCATE KIDNAPPERS’ HIDEOUT, RESCUE OPERATION DELAYED BY IEDs
The Imo State Police Command says it has located the hideout where suspected kidnappers are holding abducted National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members and other victims.
The Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed this while speaking with journalists on the ongoing search and rescue operation.
Bosso said security operatives used drones to track the abductors and establish the exact location of their camp in the bush.
He, however, said the rescue operation was delayed by intelligence indicating that the area had been heavily mined with improvised explosive devices, IEDs.
The Police Commissioner said security forces had already moved into the area and were working to safely gain access to the victims.
He explained that the operation would involve the deployment of heavy equipment, including bulldozers, armoured personnel carriers and other high-velocity vehicles, to navigate the difficult terrain.
The victims were among passengers abducted after suspected gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on October first.
The buses were reportedly conveying prospective corps members from Ibadan to orientation camps in the South-East and South-South when they were attacked around the Umunoha axis in Mbaitoli Local Government Area.
The Imo State Police Command had earlier reported that ten victims were rescued at the scene, while efforts were ongoing to establish the exact number of those still in captivity.
The Defence Headquarters later said twenty passengers were abducted from the two buses, including several prospective corps members, while ten passengers, including eight 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 rescue the remaining victims.
