Twenty prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and another victim abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have regained their freedom.
The victims were rescued from the Amakohia-Ubi forest in Owerri West Local Government Area following a coordinated operation by security agencies.
They have since been taken to the Department of State Services (DSS) Hospital in Owerri, where they are receiving medical attention and undergoing medical checks.
The Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, visited the rescued victims at the DSS clinic in Owerri. He was accompanied by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, the Director of the DSS and the Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade, Imo State.
The prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The two buses conveying the corps members reportedly came under attack near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
Following the incident, security agencies launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation to locate the victims and their abductors.
The Imo State Police Command had earlier disclosed that its operatives located the kidnappers’ camp through drone surveillance but were initially unable to access the area because it was reportedly planted with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Additional operational assets, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, were subsequently deployed as security agencies intensified efforts to reach the victims.
The abduction had caused anxiety among the victims’ families, following reports that the abductors demanded a ransom of ₦50 million for each victim.
Police had earlier announced the rescue of 10 of the abducted prospective corps members, while operations continued to locate the remaining victims.
Details of the latest rescue operation, including whether any suspects were arrested or ransom was paid, had not been made public as of the time of reporting.
