Margaret Emefiele, the kidnapped wife of governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has been released.
She regained her freedom overnight [September 30, 2016], an authoritative source told News Express.
“She was released late last night,” the source, who did not wish to be named, said.
Mrs. Emefiele was kidnapped on Thursday afternoon, September 29, 2016, and security agencies had been working frantically to locate her since from the moment the case was reported to them.
She was kidnapped around the Edo/Delta boundary while she was coming from Lagos State. The Emefieles are from Delta State.
“Two among the police officers attached to her were shot and are presently in the hospital receiving treatment,” the source said.
The abductors were said to have made contact with her husband on Friday, demanding a huge sum as ransom but it is not clear if any was paid.
Police IG Deployed Helicopters In Search
Ibrahim Idris, the inspector-general of police had deployed helicopters along the Benin-Agbor Road in search of the kidnapped wife of Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele.
The IGP had also flooded the area with hundreds of police operatives and sniffer dogs in a move to put pressure on the kidnappers.
A senior police officer who pleaded to be anonymous told journalist “We received information on Thursday that the CBN governor’s wife was abducted alongside three women and a male driver. They were on their way to Agbor, Delta State, where she hails from. “We have deployed policemen, helicopters and sniffer dogs and we will arrest the suspects very soon.”
Police sources said the abductors did not know her identity, adding that they simply stumbled on her and whisked her away.
The IG Special Intelligence Monitoring Team, headed by Abba Kyari, has commenced investigation into the incident.
Kyari was the officer who arrested the suspects responsible for the abduction of Prof. Kamene Okonjo, the mother of ex-Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in 2012.
There were fears that the gang may increase their demand if they got to know the identity of their hostage.
“We actually wanted to keep the incident under wraps until the woman has been rescued, because the exposure of the victim’s identity may complicate the case; this is our fear,” a source said.
As of the time of filing this report, the police spokesman, Donald Awunah, could not be reached for comments as calls to his mobile telephone failed to connect. He had yet to respond to an SMS.
