Five corps members and two other persons kidnapped on Wednesday by gunmen have been rescued by the Nigeria Police Force.
The people were kidnapped on along Owerri-Port Harcourt Expressway.
The corps members who were on their way to the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, camps in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, were taken to Umuapu forest in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.
The kidnappers, the police said, soon established contact with the families of the corps members, demanding for N5 million.
The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Dasuki Galadanchi, gave the names of the victims as Abiola Temitope; Olubisi Adekanmi; Jose Temitayo; Folarin Opeyemi and Shonibare Ademola.
Leonard Uzondu and Raymond Ojodahe are the other two persons also kidnapped.
The police said acting on the information they received, the stormed the kidnappers den and rescued the victims.
The police boss, Galadanchi, explained: “The victims were travelling from Ibadan to Port Harcourt.
“Five out of the seven of them are prospective corps members.
“They were on their way to the NYSC orientation camps in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States for the three weeks camping.
“They were kidnapped around 5 a.m. on Wednesday at Umuapu, on the Owerri-Port-Harcourt Expressway.
“The kidnappers took them to a forest and dispossessed them of all their belongings, including money, phones, ATM cards and voter cards.
“They compelled them to call their relatives at home to speak to them.
“Immediately contact was established, they instilled fear in the parents and demanded N5 million for their freedom.
“The operatives went into the bush and on sighting the officers, the kidnappers abandoned their victims and fled.
“We rescued them unhurt, but the hoodlums made away with their valuables.
“This is part of the dividends of community policing.
“I urge Imo State residents to keep sharing information with the police.
“We cannot do it alone.”
