The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) said it’s deeply concerned about the latest abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and other passengers along the Owerri–Onitsha Road in Imo State.
The attack reportedly occurred around Umunoha on October 1, when armed men intercepted two buses conveying prospective corps members and other passengers. The Imo State Police Command has reported the rescue of 10 victims, while operations to account for and rescue others continue.
RULAAC welcomes the rescue efforts. However, the incident raises urgent questions about the effectiveness of security arrangements along a highway with a significant presence of security personnel and checkpoints, including a longstanding military presence around Ukwuorji.
How are armed groups able to repeatedly intercept vehicles, abduct passengers and move their victims away from this corridor despite these security deployments? This is not an allegation of complicity against security personnel. It is a legitimate demand for accountability and explanation.
RULAAC calls on the Nigerian Army, the Imo State Police Command and the Imo State Government to explain the security architecture covering the Umunoha–Ukwuorji axis and the wider Owerri–Onitsha corridor.
Security along a major highway cannot consist principally of static checkpoints where motorists are stopped and searched. Effective security requires intelligence gathering, mobile patrols, surveillance of identified hotspots, rapid response, and coordination among security agencies.
Previous abductions along this corridor should also be reviewed. Were the perpetrators identified and brought to justice? What security gaps were discovered? What corrective measures were taken, and why have similar incidents continued?
The presence of checkpoints should translate into greater safety for road users. When kidnappings repeatedly occur around the same corridor despite visible security deployments, the effectiveness of those deployments must be examined.
RULAAC therefore calls for an urgent joint security review of the Owerri–Onitsha Road, particularly the Umunoha–Ukwuorji axis, focusing on kidnapping hotspots, intelligence gaps, patrol patterns, response times and inter-agency coordination.
The immediate priority must be the safe rescue of every person still being held and the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
But rescue operations alone are not enough. Something is clearly not working along the Owerri–Onitsha corridor. The public deserves to know why — and what the authorities are doing differently to prevent the next abduction.
- Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC)
