Amidat AbdulFatai
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, has said the command is not aware of any ransom payment for the release of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members and another victim abducted in the state.
Bosso, who disclosed this during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, said the abductors eventually released the victims after coming under intense pressure from security agencies conducting a coordinated search-and-rescue operation.
The victims were abducted on October 1 along the Owerri-Onitsha Road while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The abduction had triggered anxiety among the victims’ families and generated widespread concern after reports that the kidnappers demanded ₦50m for each of the abducted persons.
However, Bosso said there was no information available to the police indicating that ransom was paid before the victims regained their freedom.
According to him, security operatives intensified their operation and combed the forest where the victims were held, forcing the kidnappers to succumb to pressure.
He said the freed victims were currently receiving attention at the office of the Department of State Services.
The victims were reportedly released from the Amakohia-Ubi forest in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State on Wednesday following a coordinated operation involving security agencies.
The development came after days of intensive efforts by security operatives to locate and rescue the abductees.
The police had earlier disclosed that its operatives used drone surveillance to locate the kidnappers’ camp but could not immediately move into the area because the location was reportedly planted with improvised explosive devices.
Additional operational assets were subsequently deployed as security agencies intensified efforts to penetrate the forest and secure the victims.
Earlier in the operation, police confirmed the rescue of 10 of the abducted persons while the search for the remaining victims continued.
The latest rescue brings the number of freed victims to 21, comprising 20 prospective corps members and another person abducted with them.
Reacting to the development, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, commended the security agencies for what he described as their intervention in securing the release of the victims.
Uzodimma, in a statement personally signed by him, also expressed satisfaction with the collaboration between the Oyo and Imo State governments in efforts that culminated in the release of the abductees.
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