TVC NEWS [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, Rivers 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, in neighbouring 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, also in the Niger 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.



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