The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, has disclosed that security operatives have located the suspected camp where 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road are being held.

Bosso said the security agencies were able to identify the location through intelligence gathering and the use of drones. However, the planned rescue operation has been delayed by reports that explosives have been planted around the suspected camp.

The prospective corps members were abducted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps. Gunmen reportedly attacked the two buses conveying them at Umunoha in Imo State and took the victims into the bush.

The development has heightened concerns over the safety of the abducted graduates, whose families have reportedly been given a 24-hour ultimatum to pay a total ransom of ₦1 billion, with the kidnappers demanding ₦50 million for each victim.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has meanwhile deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the rescue operation. Security agencies are expected to carefully neutralise the reported explosives before moving into the area to secure the victims.

Authorities have assured the families that efforts are ongoing to rescue the prospective corps members unharmed, while further details of the operation remain undisclosed for security reasons.