“The abductors were heavily armed. They were about 10. They bailed up the men fixing the interlocking tiles and asked them to lie face down. Immediately they saw her they bundled her into a waiting Golf car while another car was parked outside,” said an eyewitness.
Prof. Kanene Okonjo, mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was on Sunday abducted at the gate of the palace of the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-Uku in Delta State, Prof. Chukwuka Okonjo, who is her husband.
The 82-year-old monarch’s wife was said to have been abducted at about 1.47pm by a gang of armed men who seized her at the gate of the palace and took her away, when her husband traveled 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. They grab and push her into a waiting Golf Volkswagen car.
The atmosphere at the palace was gloomy on Sunday as many sympathisers and well wishers, including members of the community vigilance group, gathered to discuss the development.
State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muoka, who confirmed the kidnap, said the police had collected information that would be useful to track down the kidnappers.
Also, the Police command in the state disclosed that a man, who was said to have left the palace a few minutes before the incident, had been arrested. The man was said to have informed the housemaid that he was in the palace to take the octogenarian to somewhere in the town.
The Minister of Finance is yet to release any statement on the development.
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. They grab and push her into a waiting Golf Volkswagen car.
The atmosphere at the palace was gloomy on Sunday as many sympathisers and well wishers, including members of the community vigilance group, gathered to discuss the development.
State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muoka, who confirmed the kidnap, said the police had collected information that would be useful to track down the kidnappers.
Also, the Police command in the state disclosed that a man, who was said to have left the palace a few minutes before the incident, had been arrested. The man was said to have informed the housemaid that he was in the palace to take the octogenarian to somewhere in the town.
The Minister of Finance is yet to release any statement on the development.
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