Imo State police say they have pinpointed the bush camp where remaining abducted prospective National Youth Service Corps members are being held, but a raid has been delayed over fears the site is mined with improvised explosive devices, as relatives in Oyo State face demands of N50 million per victim.

The disclosure by Imo State Commissioner of Police Audu Garba Bosso on Saturday 3 October 2026 came two days after gunmen attacked two commercial buses conveying graduates travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. Bosso told journalists that drones flown on Friday located the suspected camp after officers trailed the abductors into the bush, but that intelligence indicated the camp had been mined with IEDs.

“Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush,” Bosso said, according to Punch. He added that security agencies planned to move in with bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers in an effort to rescue the victims unhurt.

How the NYSC abduction unfolded on the Owerri–Onitsha road

According to Isiah Akpan, managing director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, whose company operated the buses, the vehicles left Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday, were delayed by traffic around Benin, spent the night near Oba in Anambra State, and resumed the journey at about 5 a.m. on Thursday 1 October. He said gunmen blocked the buses shortly after they entered Imo State along the Owerri–Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area and forced passengers into the bush. The drivers escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint.

Akpan told Punch and Channels Television that the attackers took 19 passengers, all prospective corps members. Defence Headquarters, cited by The Guardian, said the buses had been conveying about 30 passengers and that 20 people were abducted. Imo police earlier said 10 people were rescued at or near the scene and that the two buses were recovered; the command’s spokesperson, Henry Okoye, could not confirm whether those rescued included prospective corps members from the two buses. Defence Headquarters said Operation Udo Ka troops, working with the police, DSS and Air Force, rescued ten passengers including eight identified prospective corps members, and that a joint search continued for those still missing.

Ransom demands and families’ appeal in Ibadan

Abductors have contacted some families through the mobile phones of the missing graduates, demanding N50 million for each victim — about N950 million if 19 people remain captive, or N1 billion if the higher figure of 20 is used. Parents who visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in Bodija on Saturday said the kidnappers had given them 24 hours to pay, Punch reported.

Speaking for the affected families, Alhaja Akande and Oyebola Akande said: “They have been calling us since yesterday (Friday) with a demand for N50m ransom each. They are threatening that anything untoward will happen to our children if we fail to heed to their request. There is no way we can raise such an amount at this period.”

Ladoja assured them that police were working to secure a safe rescue. Oyo State Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Abimbola said he had been in contact with his Imo counterpart since the day of the attack. Oyo State officials also met relatives at the state secretariat and said Governor Seyi Makinde was working with stakeholders for a safe release, Channels Television reported. One mother, Mrs Oladosu, said abductors briefly showed victims on a video call sitting on the ground in the bush and crying.

Federal police reinforce the Imo rescue operation

Inspector-General of Police Olatunji (Tunji) Disu has deployed Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Operations) Shehu Nadada to Imo to coordinate the search. Force spokesperson Anietie Iniedu said Nadada arrived with two commissioners of police, reviewed deployments with Imo CP Bosso and federal operations CP Akpan Anifiok, and ordered additional tactical teams and assets for intelligence-led tracking of the suspects.

Punch noted that the Imo attack came 36 days after 15 prospective corps members were abducted in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State on 26 August. At the time of writing on Saturday evening, 3 October 2026, Pen Agency News had not independently confirmed that any further victims had been freed after the early rescues, or that any ransom had been paid. This report is based on accounts from Punch, Channels Television, TheCable, The Guardian and Defence Headquarters statements as carried by those outlets.

Featured image: Welcome sign along the Owerri–Onitsha express road at Ogbaku, Imo State (file photo, 2018). Photo: Prince2019 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The file photo does not depict the abduction or the rescue operation.