OKONJO IWEALA'S MOTHER KIDNAPPED BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN

Professor Kanene Okonjo, mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been kidnapped. She was abducted yesterday around 1.47pm at the gate of the palace of the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Prof. Chukwuka Okonjo, who is her husband, by a gang of heavily armed men. Her husband had travelled out of the town.

The kidnappers, numbering about 10, were said to be lurking around the palace until the woman and her maid came down to offer some drinks to workers at the gate. Eyewitness said as soon as the woman came down from the main building, towards the gate, the criminals also moved in from the gate to grab and push her into a waiting Golf Volkswagen car.

Her husband, Obi Chukwuka Okonjo, a retired professor of Economics, is the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-Uku. The kidnappers are yet to make contact with the family of their victim.