World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has revealed that her mother was kidnapped in 2012 after she uncovered an alleged $2.4bn fraud involving Nigeria’s fuel subsidy scheme.
Okonjo-Iweala, who was Nigeria’s finance minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2011 and 2015, disclosed this during a recent interview with Bloomberg.
She explained that her office began investigating the subsidy scheme after noticing a significant increase in claims submitted by petrol importers. The audit reportedly uncovered fraudulent claims worth approximately $2.4bn, prompting the government to withhold the disputed payments.
According to her, her mother, Kamene Okonjo, was abducted from her home in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, in December 2012, shortly after the decision was made.
The former minister said the kidnappers demanded that she resign from her position and leave Nigeria as a condition for her mother’s release.
She described the incident as one of the most traumatic experiences of her life, revealing that her mother was held in a forest for five days before escaping.
“My mother was abducted after I exposed $2.4bn subsidy fraud in 2012,” she said, recounting the ordeal.
Okonjo-Iweala, who said her mother is now 96, added that the experience left her devastated and made her question whether she should remain in office.
She, however, recalled that her father advised her not to surrender to the kidnappers’ demands, encouraging her to continue her work rather than give in to blackmail.
The WTO chief said she had never imagined that her parents would become targets of such violence, describing the incident as an extremely painful period for her family.
Her account has brought renewed attention to the controversy surrounding Nigeria’s fuel subsidy payments and the risks associated with efforts to expose alleged financial misconduct.
