Unknown gunmen Sunday kidnapped the wife of a former Commissioner in Bayelsa state government in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, the police said Mrs. Augustina Ekeowei was abducted in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state, during a church service, state police command spokesperson Rita Abbey said Monday. She said the kidnappers had not made any ransom demand, and that the motive for the abduction was yet unknown. Augstina’s husband, Godwin Ekeowei, was a Commissioner in Bayelsa and is being tipped to be the new Secretary to the State Government,
The federal government has blamed the rising cases of kidnapping in the oil region on criminal groups seeking to extort money from families of their victims, rather than militants fighting for a better deal for the oil-producing communities. Most victims of kidnapping have been freed unharmed, usually after the payment of ransom which are rarely publicly acknowledged by those involved.
