RismadarVoice Reporters
October 3, 2026
The Imo State Police Command says security operatives have located the suspected hideout where abducted prospective National Youth Service Corps members and other passengers are believed to be held, but concerns over improvised explosive devices have slowed efforts to reach them.
Commissioner of Police Audu Garba Bosso said drones were deployed during the search operation and helped security forces identify coordinates linked to the suspected kidnappers’ camp in a bush area.
Bosso said operatives had advanced towards the location but could not immediately move into the camp because intelligence available to the security team indicated that the surrounding area could be planted with improvised explosive devices.
“Yesterday we were in the bush; we trailed them up to a particular location. But then, we couldn’t move in to where the coordinates showed us where they are,” the police commissioner said.
He added: “Our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs.”
Bosso said security agencies were preparing additional equipment to support the rescue operation, including specialised vehicles, bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers.
“We are moving in there with high-velocity vehicles. We are moving in with bulldozers and APCs to see how we are going to rescue these victims,” he said.
The victims were abducted after suspected gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway on October 1.
The buses were carrying prospective corps members and other passengers travelling from Ibadan towards orientation camps in the South-East and South-South when they were attacked around the Umunoha axis in Mbaitoli Local Government Area.
The Imo State Police Command earlier said 10 victims were rescued following the attack, while security agencies continued efforts to determine the number of people remaining in captivity.
The Defence Headquarters subsequently said 20 passengers had been abducted from the two buses and that 10 had been rescued, including eight identified prospective corps members.
A joint search-and-rescue operation involving troops of Operation Udoka, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, with support from the Nigerian Air Force, remains underway.
Authorities have not publicly disclosed the precise location of the suspected hideout as operations to safely recover the remaining victims continue.
