The Imo State Police Command says security operatives have located the suspected hideout where abducted prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and other victims are being held.
Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed this while giving an update on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation.
According to Bosso, security forces tracked the suspected kidnappers into the bush and deployed drones, which provided coordinates identifying the location of the suspected camp.
The police commissioner said operatives have not immediately moved into the location because intelligence indicates that the camp and surrounding area have been planted with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
“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,” Bosso said.
He explained that drone surveillance subsequently showed security forces the suspected location of the abductors.
“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs,” the commissioner said.
Bosso said security agencies were preparing to deploy heavy equipment to create a safer approach to the suspected camp and rescue the victims.
He said the operation would involve bulldozers, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and other high-mobility vehicles.
“We are moving in there with high-velocity vehicles. We are moving with bulldozers and APCs to see how we’re going to rescue these victims unhurt,” he said.
The development follows the October 1 attack on two buses travelling along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State.
The buses were carrying prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, towards orientation camps and other destinations in the South-East and South-South. The attack occurred around the Umunoha axis of Mbaitoli Local Government Area.
The Defence Headquarters subsequently said 20 passengers were abducted from the two buses, including prospective corps members, while 10 passengers, including eight identified prospective corps members, were rescued.
Earlier, the Imo Police Command had confirmed the attack and said 10 victims had been rescued while authorities worked to establish the exact number of people still in captivity.
The military said a joint search-and-rescue operation involving troops of Operation UDO KA, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, with support from the Nigerian Air Force, was underway to locate and rescue the remaining victims.
The Inspector-General of Police has also deployed senior police officers to Imo State to coordinate intensified tactical operations following the highway attack.
The latest development indicates that security agencies have narrowed down the suspected location of the abductors, but the reported presence of explosives has made the rescue operation particularly sensitive.
Authorities have not announced the successful rescue of the remaining victims as of the latest update.
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