…Police Locate Kidnappers’ Forest Camp With Drones, Fear Landmines; Parents Dispute
Daud Olatunji
The abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps in the South-East has taken a more alarming turn, with security agencies locating the kidnappers’ hideout but delaying a raid over fears that the forest camp has been planted with improvised explosive devices.
The development came as distraught parents of the abducted graduates raised the alarm over a reported N50m ransom demanded for each victim, putting the total demand at N1bn if 20 persons are being held.
The parents also disputed earlier claims by security agencies that 10 passengers were rescued during the attack, insisting that those who escaped were not rescued by security operatives but fled into the bush themselves.
The conflicting figures have further complicated efforts to establish the exact number of prospective corps members still in captivity.
The incident has also assumed a political dimension, with the Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation accusing the administration of President Bola Tinubu of failing to adequately protect Nigerians and describing the abduction as another indication of the country’s worsening insecurity.
The organisation, in a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, said the October 1 abduction of the prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps was a “sad commentary” on the security situation in the country.
The campaign organisation alleged that the Federal Government’s handling of insecurity had emboldened terrorists, bandits and kidnappers to attack and abduct Nigerians.
It specifically accused the Tinubu administration of failing to develop what it described as an effective intelligence-driven security system capable of preventing attacks and protecting citizens travelling across the country.
The campaign claimed that more than 600,000 Nigerians had been killed by terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements since the Tinubu administration came into office.
The figure, however, is a claim by the political campaign and should not be construed as an independently established death toll attributable solely to terrorists and bandits.
According to the campaign organisation, the alleged deterioration in security has affected homes, communities, schools, markets, places of worship and highways.
It said the abduction of young Nigerians travelling for national service demonstrated the need for urgent action to strengthen intelligence gathering, inter-agency coordination, preventive operations and rapid response.
The organisation further urged President Tinubu to take a cue from what it described as the security strategy of its candidate, Seyi Makinde, in Oyo State.
Makinde, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, is campaigning for the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
The campaign organisation also presented Makinde as a political alternative, claiming that his administration in Oyo State had demonstrated an approach based on coordination, intelligence, collaboration and rapid response.
However, while the political accusations intensified, security agencies in Imo State were simultaneously stepping up efforts to locate and rescue the abducted graduates.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed that security operatives had traced the kidnappers to a particular location in the bush after deploying drones.
According to him, operatives first trailed the abductors into the forest before using drones to obtain the coordinates of the suspected camp.
The police, however, were unable to immediately storm the location because intelligence indicated that the camp had been mined with IEDs.
Bosso said security agencies were preparing to deploy heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, as part of efforts to reach the victims and rescue them alive.
The police commissioner said the operation was being carefully planned because rushing into the suspected camp could expose both the hostages and security personnel to the risk of detonating explosives.
The police spokesperson, Henry Okoye, also said security operatives were closing in on the kidnappers.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, had reportedly deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, alongside two commissioners of police, to reinforce the rescue operation in Imo State.
Nadada was said to have arrived in the state and reviewed the personnel, strategy and operational assets deployed for the search-and-rescue mission.
While the security operation continued, parents of the victims challenged the account that 10 passengers had been rescued.
The parents, who visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in Ibadan on Saturday, alleged that those described as rescued actually escaped from the kidnappers and found their way out of the bush.
Speaking through Alhaja Alimot Akande and Oyebola Akande, the parents claimed that about 30 passengers were travelling in the two buses when the gunmen attacked.
They said 10 passengers escaped while 20 prospective corps members were taken into captivity.
The parents’ account differs from earlier statements attributed to the Imo State Police Command and Defence Headquarters, which gave different figures concerning the number abducted and those rescued.
The Defence Headquarters was reported to have said 20 passengers were abducted while 10 people, including eight prospective corps members, were rescued.
The discrepancies have left families uncertain about the exact number of victims still being held.
One of the parents, Alimot Akande, said the families initially learnt of the attack through a social media post made by one of those who escaped.
She also accused the transport company of failing to immediately provide a comprehensive passenger manifest, saying some names were allegedly missing from the document eventually produced.
The families subsequently sought the intervention of the Olubadan, the Oyo State Government and security agencies.
The anxiety deepened after the parents disclosed that the abductors had demanded N50m for each victim.
Based on the parents’ claim that 20 prospective corps members remained in captivity, the ransom demand amounts to N1bn.
The families said the kidnappers had given them a 24-hour deadline and threatened to harm the victims if the money was not paid.
Earlier reports had put the number of abducted persons at 19, with a corresponding ransom demand of N950m.
The difference in the figures has remained unresolved as security agencies continue their search-and-rescue operation.
The parents said the amount was far beyond what ordinary families could raise within such a short period.
One of the mothers reportedly appealed to the Olubadan for assistance, saying the families were desperate to prevent any harm coming to their children.
Another mother said she had resorted to prayers while members of her family continued to search for ways to secure her son’s release.
The prospective corps members reportedly departed Ibadan on Wednesday in two buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors.
They were travelling to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when the journey was reportedly disrupted by heavy traffic around Benin, Edo State.
After reaching the Onitsha axis late on Wednesday, the passengers and drivers reportedly spent the night before continuing the journey at about 5am on Thursday.
The attackers reportedly struck after the buses entered Imo State, along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Mbaitoli Local Government Area.
The gunmen allegedly blocked the buses and marched passengers into the bush.
The drivers were reported to have escaped and alerted security personnel, triggering the subsequent search operation.
Olubadan assures distraught parents
The parents’ visit to the Olubadan brought another layer of intervention to the crisis.
Ladoja assured the families that efforts were being made to secure the safe release of their children.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, also reportedly said he had been in contact with his Imo counterpart over the operation.
The Oyo State Government had earlier condemned the abduction and said Governor Seyi Makinde directed that necessary resources be deployed to support efforts to secure the victims’ release.
The state government said it was liaising with the Imo State Government, security agencies and the NYSC authorities over the incident.
Against the backdrop of the unfolding rescue crisis, the Makinde/Daura campaign organisation said the incident demonstrated what it described as the failure of the Federal Government to adequately protect citizens.
It said parents had made enormous sacrifices to educate their children through tertiary institutions, only for them to face the risk of kidnapping while travelling for a compulsory national assignment.
The organisation said:
“The October 1, 2026 abduction of 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps in the South-East and South-South parts of the country is yet another sad commentary on the failure of the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration to secure our citizens.”
The campaign organisation further described the country’s security situation as alarming and accused the administration of failing to demonstrate sufficient capacity to manage an intelligence-led security architecture.
It nevertheless acknowledged the sacrifices of security personnel, while calling for stronger coordination, intelligence gathering, preventive operations and rapid response.
The organisation also used the incident to promote Makinde’s presidential bid, saying its candidate would bring a different approach to national security if elected.
Meanwhile, the abduction has triggered a separate debate over the continued compulsory deployment of young Nigerians to states outside their places of origin.
African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, called for the immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the NYSC scheme.
Sowore argued that the abduction demonstrated the risks involved in compelling young graduates to undertake long-distance journeys for national service.
He proposed that, pending a permanent replacement, corps members should be allowed to serve within their states of origin.
He also suggested replacing the NYSC with a voluntary National Job Corps focusing on employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare and education.
For now, the immediate concern remains the safe return of the abducted graduates as security agencies race against time to penetrate the suspected forest camp reportedly surrounded by explosives.
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