Businessman and founder of Jezco Oil and Jezco Group, Sir Joseph Ezeokafor, has reportedly been kidnapped in Awka, Anambra State, after he allegedly went alone to a mountain to pray.
Ezeokafor, who is also the father of Nigerian Instagram celebrity Jowizaza, was reportedly abducted last week at Ifite Awka, according to lawyer Chukwudi Iwuchukwu.
Iwuchukwu disclosed the alleged abduction in a Facebook post on Sunday, claiming that Ezeokafor had gone to the mountain alone for overnight prayers without his security details and police personnel who usually accompanied him.
He alleged that unidentified gunmen abducted the businessman during the prayer session and took him to an undisclosed location.
“Sir Joseph Ezeokafor, a Nigerian billionaire businessman, the founder of Jezco Oil and the Jezco Group, who is also the father of Nigerian Instagram celebrity Jowizaza, was reportedly kidnapped last week from a bush in Awka, in Anambra State,” Iwuchukwu wrote.
He added that Ezeokafor had gone to the mountain “alone to pray and seek the face of God without his security details and his policemen attached to him as it has been a normal practice for the billionaire businessman in the past.”
Iwuchukwu further alleged that the businessman was taken away by unknown gunmen while praying. “In the course of the fervent prayers and his vulnerability, he was picked up by unknown gunmen who took him away to an unknown location.”
The reported abduction has reportedly triggered concern and mourning in Ekwulobia, the community where Ezeokafor hails from.
Iwuchukwu described Ezeokafor as the richest man from the community and said the reported incident had affected preparations for the community’s annual New Yam Festival.
According to him, the community has reportedly postponed the festival, an unusual decision which he attributed to the circumstances surrounding the businessman’s alleged abduction. “The community where he comes from, Ekwulobia, has been thrown into confusion and mourning ever since the news of the abduction broke in the community.”
He said the community considered it inappropriate to proceed with its annual celebration while the family of the businessman was dealing with the reported abduction.
The circumstances surrounding Ezeokafor’s reported abduction, including his current whereabouts and the identity of those allegedly responsible, remain unclear based on the information available in the statement.
The report has also generated concern over the safety of residents and visitors in parts of Anambra State, particularly amid continued concerns over criminal activity and abductions in the South-East.
No official statement from the Anambra State Government, the police or Ezeokafor’s family was contained in the account alleging the abduction.
The businessman’s family and community are expected to continue efforts to secure his safe release.
