Police authorities in Nigeria have disputed claims that the kidnappers of the mother of Nigeria’s finance
minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweal have put out a ransom of 1 billion US dollars.
The police made this known following recent reports (not by sharpedgenews.com) that the unknown kidnappers put out notice of a ransom to be paid for the release of 82-year old Kanene Okonjo, who is the queen mother of Ogwashi Uku, in Delta State.
The octogenarian was kidnapped by criminals outside of the palace gates in Ogbe-Ofu on Sunday.
The news of her kidnapped is the latest of similar high profile kidnaps recorded in the country in recent years. Communities in the south-south and south-east regions have witnessed a heightened spate of kidnaps and abductions in recent years.
The criminal activities started with the kidnap of foreigners by militant agitators in the creeks and waterways of the Niger-Delta, and sometimes in the cities like Port Harcourt.
In recent times, however, the series of abductions have moved hinterland into the heart of Igboland in the south east, where daredevil criminals abduct citizens and foreigners alike at gun point, and later put out ransom notices for families and friends to pay for their release.
Although security personnel often record successes in locating and apprehending the armed gangs who engage in these deadly abductions, the criminals often get away with their exploitative acts.
Meanwhile, the police said the force is on the hot trail of the dare-devil criminals and assures that they will soon be located and made to face the law.