@businessinsiderssa: WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Reveals How Exposing $2.4 Billion Fuel Subsidy Fraud Led to Her Mother’s Kidnapping World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has recounted how her fight against corruption during her tenure as Nigeria’s Finance Minister led to the kidnapping of her mother in December 2012. Speaking in an October 2026 interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua, Okonjo-Iweala recalled uncovering approximately $2.4 billion in fraudulent fuel subsidy claims and refusing to approve the payments. She revealed that following threats against her, her mother, Professor Kamene Okonjo, who was 83 years old at the time, was abducted, with the kidnappers demanding that she resign from office and leave Nigeria. Her mother escaped after five days in captivity. Okonjo-Iweala described the experience as one of the most painful periods of her life, reflecting on the personal cost of confronting corruption. Her mother is now 96 years old.

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Saturday 17 October 2026 16:55:00 GMT