Drones found the kidnapped corps, but mines were planted around the -Police area

The Imo State Police Command says they have discovered the hideout where suspected kidnappers were holding members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and other kidnapped victims, Police Commissioner Audu Garba Bosso has revealed.

Bosso said security officials used drones to track the kidnappers and were able to identify their exact location in the bush, but said the rescue operation was delayed because intelligence indicated that the area was littered with mines with improvised explosive devices.

Speaking to journalists regarding the ongoing operation, the Imo Communist Party said security forces had moved to the area and would continue efforts to reach the victims safely.

“Yesterday we were in the bushes, we followed them to a certain location. But at that time, we couldn’t move to the coordinates that showed where they were,” he said.

According to him, the drone provided information on the exact location of the kidnappers to security officials, but the presence of IEDs around the camp posed a major challenge to the operation.

“But our difficulty is that with the information we have, the camp is mined with IEDs,” Bosso said.

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

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

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

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

The Imo State Police Command earlier said 10 victims were rescued at the scene, while the exact number of victims still in custody was being verified.

Defense Headquarters later said 20 passengers were abducted from the two buses, including several corps recruits, while 10 passengers, among them eight identified corps recruits, had been rescued.

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