TheCable

Less than six months after Osiyo Agama, the sister of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s petroleum minister (pictured), was kidnapped, another member of the family has been abducted in Bayelsa state.

Unidentified gunmen were said to have stormed Yanaka community in Yenagoa, capital of the state, around 12: 05am on Thursday, whisking away Joseph Agama, the victim, after firing sporadic gunshots into the air.

Asinim Buswatt, the police public relations officer in the state, confirmed the incident, saying the victim’s father alerted the authorities shortly after the raid.

“We are still working to know the number of the gunmen that carried out the attack,” he said.

“We don’t know the motive behind it, but our men in the marine division have been alerted.”

The kidnappers had not contacted any member of the family at the time of filing this report.

Incidents of kidnapping are on the rise in the Niger Delta. The younger sister of the minister who was kidnapped in Port Harcourt while returning from church regained freedom after spending a week in captivity.