20 prospective corps members and another hostage freed in Imo

Twenty prospective National Youth Service Corps members and another hostage abducted in Imo State have regained their freedom after a joint security operation.

The rescued victims are receiving medical attention at the Department of State Services hospital in Owerri. NYSC Director-General Brigadier-General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu visited them alongside the Imo police commissioner, DSS director and commander of the 34 Artillery Brigade.

Channels Television reported that the victims were rescued from the Amakohia-Ubi forest in Owerri West Local Government Area. Daily Post said the operation involved the military, DSS, police and other security formations.

The prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. Gunmen attacked the two buses conveying them near Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road.

The rescue follows days of security searches. NaijaTrend reported the families’ accounts of a reduced ransom demand and alleged beatings here.

Police had previously said drone surveillance located the captors’ camp but that an intelligence warning about explosives prevented an immediate entry. That warning was a police account, not independent confirmation that explosives had been found.

Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma praised the security agencies and said the Oyo and Imo governments had worked together towards the captives’ release, according to Channels Television.

Details of the operation, including whether a ransom was paid or any arrests were made, had not been made public.

Sources: Punch, Channels Television, Daily Post