Bombs Block Rescue of 19 Kidnapped Youths in Nigeria

Father of abducted youth speaking to microphone
Omotosho Adewale, the father of one of the abducted, says he has had no peace and has not eaten for three days.

Police Commissioner Audu Bosso said drones helped locate the camp where the 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members were taken after a bus attack last week in the southeast Imo State.

The exact location remains undisclosed, and no suspects have been identified. Authorities say the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 50 million naira—an amount too steep for many families.

The father of a missing youth, Omotosho Adewale, told reporters he had not eaten in three days and pleaded for government help, “There’s no peace of mind.”

The NYSC recruits were traveling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom when gunmen struck near Umunoha. The NYSC is a mandatory one‑year service for most university and polytechnic graduates, aiming to foster national unity.

Bosso added that the drone “showed us exactly their location,” but the camp is believed to be mined with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Bulldozers and armoured vehicles are being deployed as the police prepare a rescue.

Kidnapping for ransom remains a major security problem in Nigeria, involving both criminal gangs and armed groups. The Abia‑Akwa Ibom incident is one of the few serious abductions in the south‑east and has reignited calls for NYSC placement reforms.

The NYSC has previously avoided deploying members to areas deemed high‑risk. Most of southeastern Nigeria had not been classified as such until now. While some past abductions in the region were linked to separatist movements such as the Ipob, authorities have not linked the current incident to any group.