BARELY four days after gunmen killed three police officers working with Delta State Governor Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa at Iseke in Anambra State’s Ihiala local government area on their way to Abia State, gunmen kidnapped 15 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in the same village on Tuesday.
Iseke is a border hamlet with Imo State’s Orsu local government area, which has become a safe haven for gunmen operating in Imo and sections of Anambra State’s Ihiala.
The NYSC members were traveling to Lagos after completing their three-week orientation program in Imo State when they were abducted by hoodlums at a prominent filling station along the Onitsha-Owerri road in Ihiala.
According to a local source, the car transporting the corps members was forced to take the dreaded Ihiala-Orlu route and ended up at Iseke, where gunmen took the corps members hostage.
It was also said that when the hoodlums realized they were being followed by security personnel, they abandoned their prisoners and escaped.
Mr. Tochukwu Ikenga, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), verified the occurrence, adding that the 15 corps members had been recovered unharmed.
“Anambra State Police operatives, reacting to a distress call along Iseke-Ihiala route, recovered uninjured 15 abducted corps members from NYSC Orientation Camp, Eziama-Obaire, Nkwerre, LGA of Imo State,” said the PPRO.
“Information reveals that the corps members ended their three weeks orientation programme on Tuesday and were making way to Lagos before their vehicle was halted at Total Filing Station intersection in Ihiala by yet-to-be identified armed men in unmarked white Toyota Hilux.
“The corps members’ vehicle was diverted to Iseke, along the Ihiala-Orlu motorway, when gunmen kidnapped them. When the armed guys realized they were being pursued by police, they abandoned the corps members and raced off with the Toyota Hiace bus bearing the registration number EPE 353 YE, which was transporting NYSC members.”
The PPRO stated that the corps members had been debriefed by police officers and that all necessary arrangements had been made to transport them back to their destinations.
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