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Nigerian finance minister's mother kidnapped

December 9, 2012 | Modified: December 9, 2012 at 6:01 pm
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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian police say kidnappers have abducted the finance minister's mother from her home in the West African nation's oil-rich delta.

National police spokesman Frank Mba told The Associated Press that Kamene Okonjo, mother of Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was kidnapped Sunday afternoon in Delta state.

He says "no stone would be left unturned" to secure her freedom.

Finance Ministry spokesman Paul Nwabuikwu said in a statement Sunday the minister had received threats in the past.

The abduction occurred in an oil-rich region where kidnappings that once affected mainly expatriate workers have increasingly targeted middle-class and elite Nigerian families.