From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and the Igbo National Council (INC) Worldwide have demanded the immediate rescue of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State, with the coalition describing the attack as a grave national emergency and a failure of the country’s security architecture.
While CUPP called on security chiefs to take direct operational responsibility for securing the victims’ release, INC urged the Nigeria Police Force to involve credible community vigilantes with knowledge of the forests, routes and settlements around the scene of the abduction.
According to INC, the victims were travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in the South-East and South-South when their vehicles were attacked near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State on October 1.
CUPP, in a separate statement signed by its spokesperson, Agu Diamond Bryan, said 10 victims had reportedly been rescued, while 20 prospective corps members remained in captivity. INC’s statement referred to the abduction of 20 prospective corps members.
Condemning the attack, CUPP said the graduates were undertaking a national obligation and should have been able to travel safely to their orientation camps.
“These young Nigerians were not criminals or combatants. They were graduates responding to a national obligation. Their only offence was travelling on a Nigerian road,” the coalition said.
It argued that the abduction raised fundamental questions about intelligence gathering, surveillance, security patrols and the capacity of relevant agencies to respond swiftly to threats on major highways.
“Where was the intelligence? Where was highway surveillance? Where were the security patrols? This is not merely a kidnapping story. It is a security failure, governance failure, intelligence failure, institutional failure and failure of state protection,” it stated.
The coalition said the incident reflected a recurring pattern of mass abductions, citing Chibok, Dapchi, Kankara, Kagara, Jangebe, Bethel Baptist and the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
It accused the government of repeatedly offering assurances while citizens continued to face abduction on highways and in schools, places of worship and communities.
CUPP demanded that the Inspector-General of Police and relevant security chiefs assume direct operational responsibility for the rescue, while the Department of State Services (DSS), Army, Air Force and Defence Intelligence Agency deploy their intelligence and rescue capabilities to secure the victims’ safe return.
The coalition also called for credible updates to affected families, an investigation into the circumstances that enabled the attack, and the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
Beyond the immediate rescue operation, it demanded a comprehensive security audit of major highways, humanitarian and psychological support for victims’ families, a stronger legal framework for combating kidnapping, and a clear, measurable and time-bound national security roadmap.
Although it said it was not alleging that President Bola Tinubu personally ordered the abduction, CUPP insisted that responsibility for protecting citizens rested with the Federal Government, which controls the nation’s security architecture.
“The Tinubu administration cannot continue to govern by assurances while families negotiate with kidnappers for the lives of their children. Nigerians deserve security, not excuses; action, not propaganda; results, not promises,” it said.
“The 20 prospective NYSC members are not statistics. They are Nigerian citizens, someone’s children, siblings and future. They must be rescued NOW. Enough is enough.”
For its part, INC, in a statement signed by its President, Chilos Godsent, on October 5, commended the Inspector-General of Police for the deployment of operatives of the Police, Army, DSS and other security agencies to locate and rescue the victims.
The council, however, said the operation would be more effective if conventional security forces worked with properly vetted local security structures familiar with the terrain.
“INC urgently calls on the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to incorporate credible, properly vetted and coordinated Community Vigilantes into the ongoing rescue operations, particularly those with detailed knowledge of the surrounding forests, bushes, communities, routes and difficult terrains,” it said.
According to the council, community-based personnel could supply valuable local intelligence and help guide security operatives through difficult terrain, provided their participation was organised under the command of conventional security agencies.
It stressed that such coordination was necessary to ensure discipline, safety and effectiveness during the rescue operation.
INC urged security agencies to sustain the search until all victims were safely recovered, strengthen intelligence gathering and surveillance around Umunoha and adjoining communities, and engage traditional rulers and other credible local structures.
It also called for stronger protection for commuters along the Owerri-Onitsha corridor and appealed to residents with information that could assist the rescue to promptly pass it to security authorities.
“The Igbo National Council Worldwide stands in solidarity with the affected families and calls for the safe, unconditional and immediate rescue of all the victims,” the council said.
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<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
