Bombs preventing rescue of kidnapped youths, Nigerian police say

ByMakuochi Okafor BBC Africa, Reporting fromLagos.

Key points

• Omotosho Adewale, whose child is among those abducted, informed the BBC that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 50m naira ($37, 680; £28, 440).
• In the south-east, some previous abductions have been linked to separatist groups, including the Indigenous Individuals of Biafra (Ipob).
• The abduction in Imo state has caused widespread concern, with mass kidnappings less common in southern Nigeria than in some parts of the north.
• 'I have never felt heat like that' – a survivor on watching 33 cellmates die in Nigeria.
• The NYSC is a compulsory one-year programme for most Nigerian university and polytechnic graduates.

Nigerian police say they have located a camp where 19 national youth service recruits are being held by gunmen but cannot move in as they believe the place is mined with explosives.

Police Commissioner Audu Bosso remarked drones assisted locate the camp where the prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members were taken after being abducted last week in the south-eastern Imo state.

For context, the exact location of the camp has not been disclosed and police have not identified those responsible for the kidnapping.

Omotosho Adewale, whose child is among those abducted, informed the BBC that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 50m naira ($37, 680; £28, 440). It he could not afford.

"There's no peace of mind. I've not eaten in three days, " he remarked in between tears. Adewale appealed to the administration for assist.

Those kidnapped had been travelling from Ibadan in the south-west to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states on Thursday when gunmen attacked their buses near Umunoha in Imo state.

Meanwhile, the NYSC is a compulsory one-year programme for most Nigerian university and polytechnic graduates. As well as to foster a sense of national unity, participants, known as corps members, are posted to different parts of the country to work and take part in community service.

'If you began running, they shot you' – inside Nigeria's growing kidnapping crisis. Speaking to journalists, Bosso remarked they had tracked the kidnappers.

"The drone actually indicated us exactly their location. But our predicament is that with the intel we have. The camp is mined with IEDs, " he remarked.

Bulldozers and armoured vehicles are being deployed as police prepare for a rescue operation.

Kidnapping for ransom is a major security difficulty in Nigeria, involving both criminal gangs and armed groups.

Notably, the abduction in Imo state has caused widespread concern, with mass kidnappings less common in southern Nigeria than in some parts of the north.

Paying ransoms is illegal and authorities have repeatedly cautioned families against doing so, but relatives of kidnapped residents are often under pressure to do so to secure their release.

Notably, the latest abduction highlights the risks faced by young individuals travelling throughout Nigeria to do their national youth service and has renewed calls for reforms.

In practice, the NYSC has previously remarked it would not deploy members to areas considered high-risk as of violence or the threat of abduction. Most parts of south-eastern Nigeria have not previously been classified as high-risk areas.

In the south-east, some previous abductions have been linked to separatist groups, including the Indigenous Individuals of Biafra (Ipob). Authorities have not linked the current abduction to any group. More regarding Nigeria from the BBC. Remains of dozens of suspected kidnap victims discovered in Nigerian forests. Inside story of a Nigerian ransom negotiator.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

Taken together, the developments around bombs preventing rescue of kidnapped youths, Nigerian police say point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.