…Police Locate Kidnappers’ Forest Camp With Drones, Fear Landmines; Parents Dispute
Daud Olatunji
The abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps in the South-East has taken a more alarming turn, with security agencies locating the kidnappers’ hideout but delaying a raid over fears that the forest camp has been planted with improvised explosive devices.
The development came as distraught parents of the abducted graduates raised the alarm over a reported N50m ransom demanded for each victim, putting the total demand at N1bn if 20 persons are being held.
The parents also disputed earlier claims by security agencies that 10 passengers were rescued during the attack, insisting that those who escaped were not rescued by security operatives but fled into the bush themselves.
The conflicting figures have further complicated efforts to establish the exact number of prospective corps members still in captivity.
The incident has also assumed a political dimension, with the Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation accusing the administration of President Bola Tinubu of failing to adequately protect Nigerians and describing the abduction as another indication of the country’s worsening insecurity.
The organisation, in a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, said the October 1 abduction of the prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps was a “sad commentary” on the security situation in the country.
The campaign organisation alleged that the Federal Government’s handling of insecurity had emboldened terrorists, bandits and kidnappers to attack and abduct Nigerians.
It specifically accused the Tinubu administration of failing to develop what it described as an effective intelligence-driven security system capable of preventing attacks and protecting citizens travelling across the country.
The campaign claimed that more than 600,000 Nigerians had been killed by terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements since the Tinubu administration came into office.
The figure, however, is a claim by the political campaign and should not be construed as an independently established death toll attributable solely to terrorists and bandits.
According to the campaign organisation, the alleged deterioration in security has affected homes, communities, schools, markets, places of worship and highways.
It said the abduction of young Nigerians travelling for national service demonstrated the need for urgent action to strengthen intelligence gathering, inter-agency coordination, preventive operations and rapid response.
The organisation further urged President Tinubu to take a cue from what it described as the security strategy of its candidate, Seyi Makinde, in Oyo State.
Makinde, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, is campaigning for the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
The campaign organisation also presented Makinde as a political alternative, claiming that his administration in Oyo State had demonstrated an approach based on coordination, intelligence, collaboration and rapid response.
However, while the political accusations intensified, security agencies in Imo State were simultaneously stepping up efforts to locate and rescue the abducted graduates.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, disclosed that security operatives had traced the kidnappers to a particular location in the bush after deploying drones.
