The worsening kidnapping crisis in parts of Nigeria has taken a disturbing turn, with security forces confronting an alleged IED-protected kidnappers’ camp in Imo State, while a woman abducted by bandits in Niger State has reportedly given birth while in captivity.
The developments emerged from two separate kidnapping incidents involving prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members travelling to orientation camps in the South-East and South-South, and farmers abducted from their fields in Niger State.
In Imo, security agencies say they have identified the location where abducted prospective corps members are being held but have delayed a direct assault because intelligence indicates that the suspected camp and surrounding routes may have been planted with improvised explosive devices.
The development has complicated the rescue operation and raised concerns that the abductors may have deliberately fortified their hideout to frustrate security forces and endanger both their captives and rescuers.
Police Locate Suspected Kidnappers’ Camp
The prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 when gunmen attacked two buses travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, towards orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The attack occurred around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
According to Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, security operatives tracked the abductors into the bush and used drones to identify a location believed to be their camp.
However, he said intelligence indicated that the area had been mined with IEDs, making an immediate raid too risky.
“Yesterday, we were in the bush; we trailed them up to a particular location, but at that point in time, we could not move into where the coordinates showed us they were”, Bosso said.
He explained that security agencies were preparing additional equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, to enable them to approach the suspected camp and rescue the victims safely.
The number of people still in captivity has also become a subject of dispute.
The Imo State Police Command initially announced that 10 passengers had been rescued following the attack and that the two buses had been recovered.
However, parents of the affected prospective corps members later disputed the account, saying the 10 people described as rescued had actually escaped from the kidnappers and fled into the bush.
The parents said about 30 people were travelling in the two buses and maintained that 20 prospective corps members remained in captivity.
They also questioned the passenger manifest provided by the transport company, saying some of the names of those travelling were allegedly missing from the document.
The conflicting accounts have made it difficult to establish independently the exact number of people abducted and the precise number still being held.
The Defence Headquarters had previously said 20 passengers were abducted and that 10 people, including eight prospective corps members, were rescued following intervention by troops and other security agencies.
While the rescue operation continues, the families of the prospective corps members are facing a ransom demand of about ₦1 billion.
Parents who visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, said the kidnappers had contacted them through the mobile phones of some of the abducted graduates.
They said the abductors demanded ₦50 million for each of the 20 victims and gave the families 24 hours to produce the money, threatening unspecified consequences if they failed.
The distraught parents appealed to Ladoja, the Oyo State Government and security agencies to intervene urgently.
Ladoja assured the families that efforts were being made to secure the victims’ safe release.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, also said he had been in contact with his Imo counterpart, who assured him that efforts were ongoing to rescue the victims unharmed.
Following the development, Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Umar Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the rescue operation.
Nadada arrived in the state with additional senior police officers and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and the ongoing search-and-rescue operation.
The police said additional tactical teams and operational assets had been deployed, while intelligence-led tracking of the suspected abductors was being intensified.
The force said the operation was being conducted in collaboration with other security agencies with the objective of rescuing the victims and apprehending those responsible.
While security agencies grapple with the dangerous terrain in Imo, another disturbing development emerged from Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State, where bandits abducted farmers from their fields.
The victims, mostly women, were intercepted by bandits on September 26 while harvesting groundnuts around Tungan Rimi in Ma’undu-Beri Ward. They were working under a “harvest and get your share” arrangement when the attackers struck.
Chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Aliyu Bagga Muhamadu, disclosed that the abductors had subsequently established contact with relatives of some victims.
He said the kidnappers demanded ₦2 million for each victim, with the council putting the number of abducted farmers at 47.
Muhamadu also disclosed that information reaching the council indicated that one of the abducted women had given birth while in captivity.
The disclosure has heightened concerns over the conditions under which the victims are being held and the vulnerability of women and other rural workers to armed groups.
Security personnel, assisted by local vigilantes, have reportedly been mobilised to locate the abductors and secure the victims’ release.
However, the Niger State Police Command gave a lower preliminary figure, saying 20 people were abducted at Mukura village in the Kasuwan-Garba district on September 26.
The two incidents have further exposed the dangers facing Nigerians travelling across states and farmers working in remote communities.
In the Imo case, the alleged presence of explosives around the kidnappers’ camp has introduced a new layer of danger to an already delicate rescue operation.
For the families, the uncertainty has been compounded by conflicting accounts over the number of victims rescued and those still being held.
In Niger, the reported birth of a child in captivity has underscored the prolonged and potentially brutal conditions endured by kidnapping victims.
The developments have renewed calls for stronger intelligence gathering, coordinated security operations and improved protection of vulnerable communities and major transport routes.
For the families of the abducted graduates and farmers, however, the immediate priority remains the same: securing the safe return of their loved ones from the forests where they remain trapped.
