Imo CP: Security pressure freed abducted corps members
Twenty prospective National Youth Service Corps members and a civilian abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road have been rescued after security agencies mounted sustained pressure on their captors, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, has said.
The victims were abducted on October 1 and later rescued from the Amokohia Uwe Forest in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State.
Nkereuwem Effiong
Twenty prospective National Youth Service Corps members and a civilian abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road have been rescued after security agencies mounted sustained pressure on their captors, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, has said.
The victims were abducted on October 1 and later rescued from the Amokohia Uwe Forest in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State.
Bosso said he was unaware of any ransom payment for their release, despite a claim by the mother of one of the victims that her family raised ₦6m allegedly demanded by the kidnappers.
Speaking during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Bosso said the police, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Department of State Services and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps responded to a distress call and launched a joint operation to locate the victims.
“We responded swiftly to the distress call. This was a joint operation involving the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Army, Navy, Air Force, DSS and Civil Defence Corps,” he said.
The commissioner said security operatives mobilised resources and combed the forest, particularly areas identified through intelligence, until the victims were found.
According to him, the sustained pressure on the kidnappers eventually forced them to release the victims.
Asked whether a ransom had been paid, Bosso said he was not aware of any such payment.
“To my knowledge, no. I am not aware whether a ransom was paid, but we did what we were supposed to do as professionals, and that’s how we got them,” he said.
Bosso said security operatives were still combing the area in an effort to arrest those responsible for the abduction.
He added that the rescued victims were receiving medical attention at the DSS hospital and would be handed over to the Director-General of the NYSC for further care and necessary action.
“They are ill and hurting. The corps members have no serious complaints. They are ill and hurting, and as we speak, the Director-General of NYSC is on the ground and, as soon as we are done, they will be handed over to the Director-General for the needful to be done,” he said.
The commissioner also disclosed that the Inspector-General of Police had deployed additional tactical teams to Imo State following the abduction.
He said mobile police personnel and intelligence response teams had been deployed to reinforce security along the affected road and other identified flashpoints across the state.
“We’ve fortified access, not only the access where this incident happened, but across the entire state where we feel it’s a flashpoint. It has been attended by deployments of more security personnel to make sure that such an incident or any other criminal activity does not take place,” he said.
However, Bosso’s comments came shortly after Alirat Wahab, the mother of one of the abducted prospective corps members, said her family had raised ₦6m allegedly demanded by the kidnappers.
Wahab said the family borrowed money and received contributions from relatives and other individuals to raise the money for her son’s release.
Speaking to News Central on Wednesday and Thursday, she alleged that the kidnappers initially demanded ₦50m for each of the abducted prospective corps members before reducing the amount after the parents pleaded with them.
The victims were eventually rescued after spending several days in captivity, with security agencies continuing efforts to track down the perpetrators.
