The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and one other person abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have regained their freedom.
 
The victims were rescued from the Amakohia-Ubi forest in Owerri West Local Council Area of the state following a coordinated operation involving security agencies.
 
They have since been taken to the Department of State Services (DSS) Hospital in Owerri, where they are receiving medical attention and undergoing necessary medical checks.
 
The Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, was at the DSS Clinic in Owerri, where he addressed the rescued victims.
 
He was in the company of the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Director of DSS and Brigade Commander, 34 Artillery, Imo State.
 
Details of the operation, including whether any arrests were made or ransom paid, have not yet been made public.
 
The victims were abducted on October 1 while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The two buses conveying the prospective corps members came under attack near Umunoha in the Mbaitoli Local Council Area of Imo State.
 
Following the abduction, security agencies launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation to locate the victims and their abductors. The Imo State Police Command later said its operatives had located the kidnappers’ camp through drone surveillance but were unable to immediately enter the location because it was reportedly mined with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
 
The police subsequently deployed additional operational assets, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, as efforts intensified to reach the victims.
 
The development also triggered anxiety among the victims’ families after reports that the abductors were demanding N50 million for each victim.

Meanwhile, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has applauded security agencies for their quick response in securing the release of the 20 corps members.
 
He said he was particularly pleased with the security agencies for their collaboration and patriotism in ensuring that the corps members were rescued unharmed.
 
In a statement he personally signed, Uzodimma also expressed satisfaction with the collaborative efforts of both the Oyo and Imo State Governments towards the quick release of the corps members.

He said that since the issue involved the security of lives, the government was cautious about releasing too much information to the public, hence the discreet manner in which it was handled.

Also, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in a statement issued by his media aide, Adeola Oloko, yesterday, confirmed the release of the corps members.
 
The statement, titled “NYSC: The prospective members of the youth service corps, who were abducted, have been released,” said the governor personally conveyed the development to the Olubadan.