Imo CP Speaks On Ransom Payment To Abductors Of NYSC Members

The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, has actually rejected understanding of any ransom payment for the release of 20 potential National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and a civilian abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road.

Politics Nigeria had actually previously reported that the victims were abducted on October 1, 2026, and later on saved from the Amokohia Uwe Forest in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state following a joint operation by security firms.

Bosso, who spoke throughout an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, stated the continual pressure installed by security operatives required the kidnappers to launch the victims.

He stated the operation included the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

According to him, the security companies instantly mobilised their workers and resources after getting a distress signal and started combing the forest and places where intelligence suggested the victims may be held.

“We reacted quickly to the distress signal. This was a joint operation including the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Army, Navy, Air Force, DSS and Civil Defence Corps.

“We galvanised our resources and entered into the bush. We did not relent in our efforts and attempted as much as possible to ensure that all the crannies within the bush were combed,” Bosso stated.

He included that locations around the Amako neighborhood, where security firms got intelligence, were completely browsed.

“At the end of the day, since of the pressure we provided the ruffians, they ultimately launched the potential corps members, and we got them saved,” he stated.

The commissioner was consequently asked whether ransom had actually been paid to protect the victims’ release, following reports that households of the abductees had actually jointly paid about N120 million.

Bosso stated he was not knowledgeable about any ransom payment.

“To my understanding, no. I am not mindful whether a ransom was paid, however we did what we were expected to do as experts, which’s how we got them,” he stated.

His remarks came hours after a moms and dad of among the abducted potential corps members divulged that households had actually paid ransom to the abductors.

The mom, who talked to News Central Television, stated her household paid N6 million in dollars for the release of her boy.

She stated the kidnappers at first required N50 million per victim after permitting the abducted corps members to speak to their family members to develop that they were still alive.

“The terrorists initially required N50 million. They offered the abductees phone to validate that they lived. We now asked if the cash is for all of them, they stated no. The cash is for each of them,” she stated.

According to her, the households at first provided N500,000, however the kidnappers turned down the deal and threatened to eliminate the victims.

She stated settlements ultimately lowered the need to N6 million per victim, which her household paid.

“It was later on they concurred for us to pay N6 million which was what we paid. We paid N6 million,” she stated.

The mom included that moms and dads of the victims in Ibadan held a conference to collaborate the payment and consented to transform the cash to dollars before taking it to Imo State.

She stated her kid’s sibling became part of the working out group that took a trip to the state with loved ones of other victims and later on validated that the ransom had actually been paid.

Bosso stated security operatives stayed focused on tracking down the criminals.

He divulged that security workers were still combing the location in an effort to apprehend the kidnappers.

The commissioner likewise stated the saved victims were getting medical attention at the DSS health center and would consequently be turned over to the Director-General of the NYSC.

“They are ill and injuring. The corps members have no severe problems. They are ill and injuring, and as we speak, the Director-General of NYSC is on the ground and, as quickly as we are done, they will be turned over to the Director-General for the needful to be done,” he stated.

Bosso even more divulged that the Inspector-General of Police had actually released extra tactical groups to Imo State following the kidnapping.

He stated mobile cops workers and intelligence action groups had actually likewise been released to reinforce security along the Owerri-Onitsha Road and other recognized flashpoints throughout the state.

“We’ve strengthened gain access to, not just the gain access to where this event took place, however throughout the whole state where we feel it’s a flashpoint,” Bosso stated.

He included that the extra release was meant to avoid a reoccurrence of the occurrence and suppress other criminal activities throughout the state.