NYSC Director-General Attends to Rescued Corps Members

Twenty prospective National Youth Service Corps members and one other individual, who were abducted on October 1 along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State, have regained their freedom. The victims were traveling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when their two buses were attacked near Umunoha in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area.

Following the abduction, security agencies initiated a coordinated search-and-rescue operation. The Imo State Police Command reported that they located the kidnappers’ camp through drone surveillance but faced challenges accessing it due to improvised explosive devices.

Additional operational assets, including bulldozers and armored personnel carriers, were deployed to assist in the rescue efforts. The abduction raised concerns among the victims' families, especially with reports of a N50 million ransom demand for each victim.

Ultimately, all abducted individuals are now safe and receiving medical care at the Department of State Services Hospital in Owerri, where Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, is attending to them.