Army, Police, DSS Launch Aggressive Operation To Rescue 20 Abducted NYSC Members In Imo

Sunday October 4, 2026

By Idorenyin UMOREN, SituationREPORT

The Nigerian Army, Police, Department of State Services, DSS, and other security agencies have intensified search-and-rescue operations to secure the release of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members abducted along the Owerri–Onitsha Road in Imo State, security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, reported.

The victims were reportedly kidnapped on October 1 around Umunoha, with security forces subsequently launching coordinated operations to track down the perpetrators and rescue the abductees.

Makama said troops of the 34 Artillery Brigade, alongside personnel of the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force, DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and local vigilantes, launched an offensive operation in Amakohia Forest at about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.

The operation followed intelligence gathered during efforts to trace the kidnappers and establish their possible locations.

The sources said the kidnappers had contacted the families of seven victims using telephone numbers belonging to the abducted persons and demanded a ransom of N50 million for each victim.

Operatives of the DSS reportedly geolocated the telephone numbers used for the ransom calls, providing intelligence to support efforts to track the suspects.