Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, has denied knowledge of any ransom payment before the release of the 20 abducted corps members and one other who regained freedom from their abductors in the state.
Bosso, who denied the rumours during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, said the kidnappers succumbed to pressure from security agencies who combed the forest during a rescue operation.
According to him, the released victims were receiving attention at the office of the Department of State Services, DSS.
DAILY POST recalls that the prospective National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members and one other individual, were abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the state on October 1 while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
After the kidnap, security agencies launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation to locate the victims and their abductors.
The Imo State Police Command had earlier said its operatives 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 later deployed additional operational assets as efforts intensified to reach the victims.
The abduction created worry among the victims’ families following reports that the abductors demanded N50 million for each victim.
Police had earlier confirmed that 10 victims were rescued following the attack, while efforts continued to locate the remaining abductees.
The latest development brings an end to the ordeal of the 20 corps members and the other abducted victim, who have now been reunited with safety and are receiving medical attention in Owerri.
The victims were, however, released from the Amakohia-Ubi forest in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday following a coordinated operation involving security agencies.
Rescued NYSC members: I’m not aware of any ransom payment — Imo CP