Atiku calls for urgent rescue of abducted corps members - The Guardian Nigeria News
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday condemned the abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Imo State, describing the incident as “heartbreaking” and calling on the federal and Imo State governments, as well as security agencies, to urgently secure the release of those still in captivity.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the forthcoming general elections, made the call in a statement yesterday, drawing attention to the prolonged captivity of schoolchildren abducted from Mussa and Lassa communities in Borno State.
The former vice president’s intervention came four days after gunmen attacked two commercial buses conveying prospective corps members along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Mbaitoli Local Council Area of Imo State.
The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to the NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when the attackers struck at about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 1.
He wrote: “The abduction of 20 travellers, including prospective corps members, in Imo State is heartbreaking. Some have been rescued, but others remain in captivity.
“I urge the federal and Imo State governments, and all security agencies, to act with urgency and bring everyone still being held home safely.”
Recall that the Imo State Police Command initially announced that 10 passengers had been rescued and the two buses recovered, while other passengers remained missing. Subsequent accounts from families indicated that 20 corps members were all being held by the abductors.
The police and military have since intensified the search for the victims. The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, alongside two commissioners of police, to coordinate the rescue operation.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, later disclosed that security operatives had traced the suspected kidnappers to a hideout in the bush using intelligence gathering and drone surveillance.
MEANWHILE, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed dismay over the abduction of NYSC members, sympathising with families of the victims and proffering ideas on how to put a stop to such incidents.
The organisation made this known in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi.
While condemning the incident in its entirety, Afenifere observed that the risk of being kidnapped would greatly reduce if one does not have to travel such a long distance for youth service “given the prevailing situation in the country.”
According to Ajayi, Afenifere, since 2021, has been calling on the federal government to review the NYSC policy to enable corpers to serve in their respective states or areas of domicile.
It said: “The idea here is to reduce the tendency by a prospective corper to travel from one part of the country to another for the purpose of having to serve the country under the NYSC scheme. We have repeated this call several times, especially whenever there are incidents of corpers being kidnapped or attacked in one way or the other. Some national newspapers have even written editorials endorsing our position.”
