Head of ExxonMobil Staff School Kidnapped in Eket: Police Escort, Driver Killed

Mrs Lakshmi Tombush

The state of insecurity in Akwa Ibom worsened today as kidnappers abducted Ms. Lakshmi Tombush, Head of the ExxonMobil-owned Pegasus Schools in Eket.

Ms. Tombush runs the elite, highly discriminatory Pegasus Schools, funded by ExxonMobil in Nigeria. ExxonMobil operates the highly lucrative Qua Iboe oil fields in Akwa Ibom, one of Nigeria’s richest oil producing states.

Ms. Tombush is an Indian national married to a Nigerian of Akwa Ibom origin. Her husband, an insider in ExxonMobil circles, had died recently. Until his death, he had overseen the disbursement of funds from the oil firm through the award of juicy contracts. He also ran several charities that were largely financed by the oil company in the guise of corporate investment in “social responsibility community projects.”

Saharareporters learned that the police orderly attached to Ms. Tombush as well as her driver were shot dead and abandoned in her car along Grace Bill Road in Eket.

Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen overtook and blocked Ms. Tombush’s car, abducted her and then sped off with her in their own car to an unknown destination. The kidnap happened in the early hours of Wednesday.

A police source told Saharareporters that eyewitness accounts said the kidnappers seemed irritated by the efforts of the policeman and driver to save their principal and shot them in the process.

Our police sources in Eket confirmed the incident, but said that the kidnappers were yet to make contact with the family of their hostage or to demand any ransom.

The remains of the murdered driver and police escort have been evacuated from the crime scene and deposited at a morgue in Eket.

Source: Sahara Reporters