Gunmen Kidnap Diezani's Sister

Port Harcourt – The sister of Nigeria's powerful petroleum minister has

been kidnapped in the oil hub of Port Harcourt, police said Friday, in the

latest abduction targeting a prominent political family.

Osio Agama, whose sister Diezani Alison-Madueke leads Africa's largest oil

industry, was seized at gunpoint as she approached her car on Tuesday

night, Delta state police spokesman Ahmad Muhammad said.

Muhammad said police “were not aware if any ransom demand had been made”

and the motive for the abduction was unknown but the southern

oil-producing Niger Delta region has seen waves of ransom kidnappings in

recent years.
One of the most prominent cases came in December 2012, when Finance

Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's 82-year-old mother Kamene Okonjo was

abducted from her home, also in Delta state.
Okonjo-Iweala and Alison-Madueke are widely seen as the two most powerful

members of President Goodluck Jonathan's cabinet.
Jonathan's 70-year-old uncle was also kidnapped earlier this year in

Bayelsa state, which neighbours Delta.
Some have sought to attach a political motive to attacks targeting

Nigeria's most powerful families.
The finance minister implied that her mother was seized because of her

ministry's crackdown on oil companies which had abused the country's

rotten fuel subsidy scheme.
But such links were never proven and Kamene Okonjo was released a week

after her abduction.
The security forces and affected families almost never confirm ransom

payments but most believe kidnappers in the Niger Delta are seeking

financial gain.
Despite producing roughly two million barrels of oil per day, the area

remains acutely poor with high unemployment.
Gang activity is rampant and kidnappings have at times been perpetrated on

a near weekly basis.
Local politicians, prominent businessmen and foreigners have been among

the targets.
 
The post Gunmen Kidnap Diezani's Sister appeared first on Pointblank News .