Just four days after gunmen kidnapped 15 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the same community on Tuesday, they killed three police officers working with the governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, at Iseke in the Ihiala local government area of Anambra State on their way to Abia State.
Iseke is a border community in Imo State that has become a haven for gunmen who are active in Imo State and parts of Ihiala in Anambra State. It borders the Orsu local government area of Imo State.
The NYSC members, who had completed their three-week orientation program in Imo State, were reportedly traveling to Lagos when they were kidnapped at a well-known filling station in Ihiala along the Onitsha-Owerri Road.
A local source claims that the corps members were taken hostage at Iseke by the gunmen after the vehicle carrying them was forced to divert toward the dreaded Ihiala-Orlu road.
In addition, it was learned that the criminals abandoned their captives and fled when they realized they were being followed by security personnel.
Mr. Tochukwu Ikenga, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), confirmed the incident and stated that the 15 corps members had since been rescued without injury.
The following was the PPRO’s statement: 15 corps members who had been abducted from the NYSC Orientation Camp in Eziama-Obaire, Nkwerre, LGA of Imo State, were rescued unharmed by Anambra State Police officers who responded to a distress call along the Iseke-Ihiala road.
“The information indicates that the corps members completed their three-week orientation program on Tuesday and were on their way to Lagos when their vehicle was intercepted at the Total Filing Station junction in Ihiala by unknown armed men in a white Toyota Hilux that was not marked.
The vehicle carrying the corps members was diverted to Iseke, where the assailants took them hostage along the Ihiala-Orlu expressway. Realizing that the police were following them, the armed men abandoned the corps members and sped off in a Toyota Hiace bus bearing the following registration numbers: EPE 353 YE conveying the members of the NYSC.”
The PPRO explained that police officers had given the corps members a debriefing and that the necessary arrangements had been made to get them back to where they were going.