Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has recounted how her investigation into an alleged $2.4 billion fuel subsidy fraud in Nigeria led to the kidnapping of her mother.
Okonjo-Iweala shared the experience during an interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua, revealing that her mother’s abductors demanded that she resign as finance minister and leave the country.
She said the investigation began after her office detected a sharp rise in fuel subsidy claims, prompting her to examine the accounts.
Recounting the events, she said: “So I went to the president and said, look, something is going on here. Could we audit the accounts? And he said, yes, go ahead.
“And we found about $2.4 billion worth of fraud. So we refused to pay.”
She said her mother was kidnapped following the discovery, describing the five-day ordeal as one of the most painful experiences of her life.
“I was told (by the kidnappers) that for her to be released, I should resign and leave the country.
“She was held in the middle of a forest, and one night she escaped. She’s still alive. She’s 96 now.”
“It was a terrible, terrible five-day ordeal. I think the worst in my life,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala said she was initially overwhelmed by fear and considered resigning. She added that the experience left her with a lingering sense of guilt.
“I never dreamt my parents could ever be touched in this way, that people would be that evil,” she said.
Recalling her father’s response during the crisis, she said: “He said, ‘We don’t give in to blackmail’. And he said, ‘You’ve got to carry on. You’ve got to go to work’.”
Okonjo-Iweala served as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Her mother, Kamene Okonjo, was kidnapped from her home in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, in December 2012.