Armed men have reportedly abducted unspecified number of youth corps members in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The victims were said to be returning from the recent orientation camping exercise in Ondo State to Port Harcourt when the gunmen ambushed their bus and seized them on Tuesday night.
Confirming the incident, a man, who would not want his name in prints, reportedly called a radio station in Port Harcourt to announce the incident.
According to him, her sister-in-law and colleagues were victims.
He said the corps members were abducted on the Rumuji axis of the East-West Road in Emohua, Rivers State, adding that five of them, who escaped the abduction, had reported the incident at the Rumuji Divisional Police Station.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Okon Effiong, has deployed a police tactical team to rescue the victims and apprehended their assailants.
A spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident to newsmen.
She explained that exact figure of victims could not be given immediately but said some of the corps members have been rescued.
She also assured that the remaining victims would be soon regain their freedom.
A friend of some of the victims, refuted the claim that the police had rescued any of the corsp members, saying: “Those the police said they have rescued were lucky corps members, who escaped the kidnap. What happened was that a group of corps members, who live in Rivers were on their way to Port Harcourt from the NYSC Camp in Ondo after passing through orientation in that state.
“It happened on May 16. They likely had jointly hired the Port Harcourt bound bus. At Rumuji, about 9p.m., on the East West Road, they were already in Rumuji when the bus was hijacked. It is not clear how many persons were abducted but five of the travellers escaped and ran to the Rumuji Police Division to report the matter.”
