By Our Reporter
“The worst day in my life was the day my mother was kidnapped,” the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said, recounting how her investigation into an alleged $2.4bn fuel subsidy fraud in Nigeria led to the abduction of her mother.
Okonjo-Iweala disclosed this during an interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua, describing the five-day ordeal as one of the most painful experiences of her life.
She explained that the crisis began after officials in her office noticed a sharp increase in fuel subsidy claims, prompting her to seek approval from the then president to audit the accounts.
According to her, the investigation uncovered approximately $2.4bn in alleged fraud, leading the government to refuse payment of the disputed claims.
She said her mother, Kamene Okonjo, was kidnapped shortly afterwards, with the abductors demanding that she resign as finance minister and leave Nigeria in exchange for her mother’s release.
“So we refused to pay. That was when they took her,” she recalled.
The former Nigerian finance minister said the kidnappers held her mother in a forest and threatened her with demands aimed at forcing her out of office.
“I was told (by the kidnappers) that for her to be released, I should resign and leave the country,” she said.
However, Kamene eventually escaped from captivity one night and survived the ordeal. She is now 96 years old, according to Okonjo-Iweala.
Describing the emotional toll of the incident, the WTO chief said she initially felt paralysed by fear and considered resigning from her position.
“It was a terrible, terrible five-day ordeal. I think the worst in my life,” she said.
She added that the experience left her with a lingering sense of guilt, recalling that she had never imagined that her parents could become targets of such violence.
“I never dreamt my parents could ever be touched in this way, that people would be that evil,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala also recalled how her father encouraged her to resist the kidnappers’ demands and continue her work.
According to her, he told her: “We don’t give in to blackmail. And he said, ‘You’ve got to carry on. You’ve got to go to work’.”
Kamene Okonjo was abducted from her home in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, in December 2012, while her daughter was serving as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The incident drew national attention at the time, amid concerns over the safety of public officials and their families.
Okonjo-Iweala’s latest account offers a personal insight into the risks and emotional costs associated with confronting alleged corruption in Nigeria’s fuel subsidy system.