Security agencies have identified the suspected hideout of kidnappers holding prospective National Youth Service Corps members in Imo State but have delayed entering the area over fears of improvised explosive devices.

The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, said on Saturday that operatives traced the kidnappers to a location in the bush with the help of drones deployed during the search operation.

According to him, security personnel were unable to advance to the location after receiving intelligence that explosives had been planted around the suspected camp.

Bosso said the rescue team was preparing to use bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers to safely access the area and recover the victims.

Police spokesperson, Henry Okoye, also said operatives were closing in on the kidnappers and had been given instructions on how to proceed with the operation.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, had deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, alongside two commissioners of police, to strengthen the operation in Imo.

The prospective corps members were travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom when gunmen attacked their two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.

The number of victims still in captivity remains disputed. While security agencies initially reported that 10 passengers had been rescued, the victims’ families said those passengers escaped from the attackers and that 20 people remained in captivity.

The families also said the kidnappers were demanding N50m for each victim, putting the total ransom at N1bn. They said the abductors had given them 24 hours to raise the money and threatened the victims if the deadline was not met.

The conflicting accounts have heightened concerns among the families as security agencies continue efforts to reach the kidnappers’ camp and secure the safe release of those being held.