Within 24 hours of the kidnap of Professor Kamene Okonjo, mother of Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Ogwash-Ukwu, Delta State, another high-profile abduction has been recorded in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, this time involving Mrs. Titilayo Rotimi, wife of Brigadier-General Oluwole Rotimi (rtd).
Brigadier Rotimi served during the Biafran War and was later the Governor of Western State while Nigeria was under military rule from 1971 to 1975. He was also the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States in 2007.
Mrs. Rotimi was attacked in front of her company, AOK Logistics Limited, around Old Ife Road by four heavily armed men and taken away to an unknown destination at exactly 6.30 pm on Monday, according to information made available to Huhuonline.com by family members. It was learnt that she had closed for the day and was on her way out of the office when the gunmen struck.
The case was reported at the Egbeda Police Station within Ibadan and the Police authorities in the state later transferred it to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Iyaganku, Ibadan.
Confirming the incident, spokesman of the Oyo State Police Command, DSP Ayodele Lanade disclosed that the woman was already in her car, a black Mercedes Benz, and was on the verge of driving out of the company premises when the kidnappers confronted her.
He said from the report made available to the Police by those within the area at the time of the incident, the two security men attached to her company had helped her to remove the barricade on the gate of her office complex for her car to drive out. But while her driver made to move, two armed men approached her and ordered the driver to stop the car at gun point.
“A green Nissan Primera suddenly reversed and blocked her car while she was ordered to get into the Nissan car,” he said. “The manner of abduction was strange, compared to similar cases of kidnapping, especially as her abduction coincided with the protest by her workers over issues relating to non-payment of their salaries for the past three months.”
He added that the abductors were yet to reach any family member to demand a ransom.
