Okonjo-iweala’s mother, 82, kidnapped

Octogenerian mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was, on Sunday, abducted from the palace of the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-uku, Delta State, Obi (Professor) Chukwuka Okonjo.
Professor Kanene Okonjo (82), the queen mother of Ogwashi-Uku, was abducted at about 1.47 p.m., by a gang of armed men, who seized her at the gate of the palace at Ogbe-ofu and took her away, after the husband travelled out of the town.
However, the police have arrested a man who allegedly left the compound few minutes before the incident.
The man was said to have informed the housemaid that he was in the palace to take the queen mother to a place in the town.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the kidnappers, numbering about 10, were lurking around the palace until the woman and her maid came down to serve workers at the gate with soft drinks.
Eyewitness account 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.
“The abductors, when they walked into the compound, were heavily armed. They were about 10. They shouted on the men fixing the interlocking stones and asked them to lie face down. Immediately they saw her (the king’s wife who came towards the gate with her maid to serve the workers soft drinks) they bundled her (queen mother) into a waiting vehicle, while another car was parked outside.
“One of them, braving all odds, went upstairs to collect the woman’s handbag. The eyewitness said another maid who sighted the kidnapper upstairs hid herself in the kitchen.
“On coming down from upstairs, the kidnapper informed his cohorts that there was no one else in the house, so they zoomed off,” the source said.
At the palace of Professor Okonjo on Sunday, the atmosphere was gloomy as many sympathisers and well-wishers, including members of the community vigilance group, gathered, discussing the development.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Charles Muka, confirmed the report.