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, River state police spokesman Ahmad Muhammad
said.Diezani-Alison-Madueke-240
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.