The Imo State Police Command says security operatives have located the suspected camp where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road are believed to be held.
Commissioner of Police Audu Garba Bosso disclosed the development while giving an update on the ongoing search-and-rescue operation. He said security operatives trailed the suspected kidnappers into the bush before deploying drones to identify their location.
According to Bosso, the drone surveillance provided coordinates believed to show the location of the abductors and their captives. Security forces, however, have not immediately moved into the camp following intelligence that the area may have been planted with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The Police Commissioner said security agencies are preparing to deploy heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, as part of efforts to reach the location and rescue the victims without causing harm to them.
The prospective corps members were among passengers travelling in two commercial buses from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when suspected gunmen attacked the vehicles around the Umunoha axis of the Owerri-Onitsha Road on October 1.
Police had earlier confirmed that 10 victims were rescued at the scene and that both buses were recovered. A joint operation involving security agencies has since continued in an effort to rescue those still being held and apprehend their abductors.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has also deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Umar Nadada, alongside two Commissioners of Police and additional tactical assets to Imo State to strengthen the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the abductors have contacted some families and demanded ₦50 million for each of the 19 prospective corps members, amounting to ₦950 million.
Security agencies say efforts are continuing to secure the safe release of the abducted corps members and apprehend those responsible.
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