20 Abducted Prospective Corps Members Freed in Imo

Twenty prospective National Youth Service Corps members who were abducted in Imo State while travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps have been freed after seven days in captivity, according to reports and confirmation from the managing director of their transport company. The 20 were receiving medical attention at a Department of State Services facility in Owerri after their release on Wednesday, October 7. The graduates were travelling in two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha when gunmen intercepted them and took them hostage. Reports place the abduction on October 1, although one account described it as occurring the previous Thursday. The victims had been heading to camps in Abia and, according to one report, Akwa Ibom. Their journey began in Ibadan, in Oyo State. Security sources said the victims were rescued in an operation involving security agencies. One account said the operation involved the military, DSS and police, and reported that a civilian was rescued as well. The other accounts reviewed did not mention a civilian, and no detailed public account of the operation was provided. The precise circumstances of the release have not been disclosed.