Chris Ngige, former Minister of Labour and Employment, is currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Fred Chukwuelobe, his media aide has said.
He debunked rumours that the ex-governor of Anambra State had been kidnapped.
Speculations spread on Monday after unverified reports claimed that Ngige had been abducted by unknown assailants.
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Chukwuelobe, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, said he had been inundated with calls over the alleged abduction but stressed that the reports were entirely false.
“I have been receiving calls in the past hour from friends and journalists seeking the veracity of the news making the rounds that His Excellency, Dr. Chris Ngige, former governor of Anambra State and immediate past minister of labour and employment, ‘has been kidnapped,’” he wrote.
“Ngige is with the EFCC. He was not ‘abducted’ or ‘kidnapped’.”
He added that further details regarding the former minister’s engagement with the anti-graft agency would be communicated in due course.
Ngige has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, following an attack on his convoy on November 27 along the Nkpor–Nnobi road in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
During the incident, gunmen disguised in police and military uniforms ambushed the convoy, killing a woman who was filming the attack and injuring a police officer and several civilians.
The former minister was not in the convoy when the gunmen struck.
