The kidnapping crisis in Nigeria has taken a disturbing turn, with security forces confronting an alleged IED-protected kidnappers' camp in Imo State and a woman abducted by bandits in Niger State giving birth while in captivity. Two separate incidents involve prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members traveling to orientation camps and farmers abducted from their fields.
In Imo State, security agencies have identified the location where abducted prospective corps members are being held but have delayed a direct assault due to intelligence indicating that the suspected camp and surrounding routes may have been planted with improvised explosive devices. This has complicated the rescue operation and raised concerns that the abductors may have deliberately fortified their hideout to frustrate security forces and endanger both their captives and rescuers.
The prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 when gunmen attacked two buses traveling from Ibadan, Oyo State, towards orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The attack occurred around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, stated that security operatives tracked the abductors into the bush and used drones to identify a location believed to be their camp.
However, there is a dispute over the number of people still in captivity. The Imo State Police Command initially announced that 10 passengers had been rescued following the attack and that the two buses had been recovered. However, parents of the affected prospective corps members later disputed the account, saying the 10 people described as rescued had actually escaped from the kidnappers and fled into the bush.
The families of the prospective corps members are facing a ransom demand of about ₦1 billion. Parents who visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, said the kidnappers had contacted them through the mobile phones of some of the abducted graduates, demanding ₦50 million for each of the 20 victims and giving the families 24 hours to produce the money.
In a separate incident in Niger State, one of the women abducted by bandits while harvesting groundnuts in Mariga Local Government Area has reportedly given birth while in captivity, according to the council chairman. Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu has deployed Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Umar Nadada, alongside additional commissioners and tactical assets to Imo State as security agencies intensify efforts to rescue the captives.
The kidnapping incidents have prompted a response from authorities, with Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, stating that he had been in contact with his Imo counterpart, who assured him that efforts were ongoing to rescue the victims unharmed. The Defence Headquarters had previously said 20 passengers were abducted and that 10 people, including eight prospective corps members, were rescued following intervention by troops and other security agencies.
Key points
- Kidnappers have planted suspected IEDs in Imo State forest, complicating rescue operations.
- A woman abducted in Niger State has given birth while in captivity.
- Families of abducted NYSC members face a ₦1 billion ransom demand.
