ex-Nigerian oil Minister [Shettima Ali Monguno] has been kidnapped in Maiduguri

92-year-old ex-Nigerian oil minister kidnapped - Nigeria's first petroluem minister Shettima Ali Monguno has been kidnapped by gunmen in Maiduguri, capital of the country's northern Borno state which is the epicentre of the violence being perpetrated by the Islamic sect Boko Haram.


According to local media reports, Monguno was kidnapped as he left the mosque after Jumat prayers on Friday.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, which came a a few days after the military Joint 'Task Force (JTF) battling Boko Haram warned that the sect was about to commence kidnapping for ransom to raise funds.

“Intelligence available to the Task Force has indicated that Boko Haram terrorists have resolved to concentrate more on kidnappings than robbery. They alleged that kidnapping is more lucrative, less dangerous and requires short time to plan and execute,” JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col Musa Sagir, said in a statement.

Alhaji Munguno served as Minister of Petroleum in the administration of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the only Prime Minister of independent Nigeria in the early 1960s.

http://www.afriquejet.com/news/6131-shettima-ali-monguno-has-been-kidnapped-by-gunmen-in-maiduguri.html

A former Nigerian oil minister, Ali Shettima Monguno kidnapped in Maiduguri last Friday by militants suspected to be Boko Haram members has been freed.

The elderstateman was snatched by kidnappers after last Friday's Jumaat prayer in the troubled city of Maiduguri.
 It is not known if any ransom was paid to secure Monguno's release.