20 rescued days after being kidnapped in southeast Nigeria
Twenty members of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps were rescued after being kidnapped by gunmen in southeastern Nigeria.
LAGOS: Nigerian police said Wednesday that 20 people abducted from two buses by gunmen in southeastern Imo state have been rescued after six days in captivity.
The passengers were members of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps, a one-year national service program for university graduates, who were traveling from Ibadan, capital of southwestern Oyo state.
The buses were held up by unidentified armed men early Thursday on a road near the town of Umunoha, police in Imo state said.
“The victims were rescued on 7th October 2026 at Amakohia Ubi Village, Imo State, following sustained search-and-rescue operations,” police spokesman Ani Iniedu said in a statement. “They have since been taken for medical assessment and necessary care.”
He said police were working to arrest the kidnappers.
Abductions for ransom by criminals, armed groups and jihadists are a multimillion-dollar industry in Africa’s most populous country, although the violence is typically concentrated in the north.
The southeast region has seen an uptick in violence in recent years, including kidnappings and fatal raids on security checkpoints, as secessionists push for independence.