The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, has said he is not aware of any ransom payment for the release of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members and a civilian abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road.
The victims, who were abducted on October 1, 2026, were rescued from the Amokohia Uwe Forest in the Owerri West Local Government Area of the state after a coordinated operation by security agencies.
Speaking during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Bosso said the sustained pressure mounted by the security agencies eventually forced the abductors to release the victims.
He said the police, in collaboration with the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of State Services and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, responded to the distress call and launched an operation to locate the victims.
“We responded swiftly to the distress call. This was a joint operation involving the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Army, Navy, Air Force, DSS and Civil Defence Corps.
“We galvanised our resources and went into the bush. We did not relent in our efforts and tried as much as possible to make sure that all the crannies within the bush were combed.
“Locations where we had intelligence, especially the Amako community area where the intelligence came from, were combed. At the end of the day, because of the pressure we gave the hoodlums, they eventually released the prospective corps members, and we got them rescued,” he said.
Asked whether ransom was paid to secure the victims’ release, Bosso said he was unaware of any such payment.
“To my knowledge, no. I am not aware whether a ransom was paid, but we did what we were supposed to do as professionals, and that’s how we got them,” he said.
The commissioner added that security operatives were still combing the area to arrest the perpetrators.
He said the rescued victims were receiving medical attention at the DSS hospital and would be handed over to the Director-General of the NYSC for further necessary action.
“They are ill and hurting. The corps members have no serious complaints. They are ill and hurting, and as we speak, the Director-General of NYSC is on the ground and, as soon as we are done, they will be handed over to the Director-General for the needful to be done,” he said.
Bosso also disclosed that the Inspector-General of Police had deployed more tactical teams to the state following the incident.
He said mobile police personnel and intelligence response teams had been deployed to strengthen security on the affected road and other identified flashpoints across the state.
“We’ve fortified access, not only the access where this incident happened, but across the entire state where we feel it’s a flashpoint. It has been attended by deployments of more security personnel to make sure that such an incident or any other criminal activity does not take place,” he said.
Bosso’s comments come hours after a mother of one of the 20 prospective corps members, Alirat Wahab, narrated how her family borrowed money and received contributions from relatives and other individuals to raise N6m allegedly demanded by the kidnappers for her son’s release.
Wahab said the kidnappers initially demanded N50m for each of the abducted prospective corps members before reducing the amount after the parents pleaded with them.
She disclosed this in separate interviews with News Central on Wednesday and Thursday, following the release of the 20 victims.
According to her, the kidnappers initially demanded N50m for each of the victims but later reduced the ransom after the parents pleaded with them.
—By Olugbenga Ige
