The Imo State Police Command has successfully located the suspected hideout of kidnappers holding about 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, but security operatives have held off an immediate raid due to intelligence that the camp is rigged with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Commissioner of Police Audu Garba Bosso disclosed this on Saturday, October 3, 2026, while briefing journalists on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation. According to him, operatives trailed the abductors into the bush on Friday and deployed drones that pinpointed the exact coordinates of the camp.
“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 they are because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us exactly their location. But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs,” Bosso said.
He added that security agencies are preparing to advance carefully with heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers (APCs), to minimise risks to both the hostages and operatives.
“We are moving in there with high-velocity vehicles, that is, bulldozers. We’re moving in with bulldozers and APCs to see how we’re going to rescue these victims unhurt,” the commissioner stated.
The prospective corps members were abducted on Thursday, October 1, when gunmen ambushed two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Mbaitoli Local Government Area. The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
Reports indicate the attackers demanded ₦50 million per victim, amounting to nearly ₦1 billion in total. Some families have reportedly been contacted through the victims’ phones.
Earlier, police said about 10 people were rescued shortly after the attack, though it remains unclear whether all were among the abducted corps members. The Inspector-General of Police has deployed additional senior officers to Imo State to strengthen the rescue effort.
As of Sunday, October 4, 2026, security forces continue to close in on the hideout while prioritising the safety of the remaining hostages.
