Posted by From Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt) with agency report on
A FILIPINO businesswoman Josiebeth Foroozan, who was allegedly abducted in Port Harcourt on February 6, 2007 only to be confirmed later to have returned to the Philippines may face charges for faking her abduction and causing Nigeria embarrassment.
A FILIPINO businesswoman Josiebeth Foroozan, who was allegedly abducted in Port Harcourt on February 6, 2007 only to be confirmed later to have returned to the Philippines may face charges for faking her abduction and causing Nigeria embarrassment.
The Philippines Foreign Affairs Under Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Esteban Conejos who dropped this hint yesterday, said he would ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate Foroozan's case so that appropriate charges may be filed against her.
Conejos told the INQUIRER.net that the purportedly kidnapped woman has phoned her Iranian husband, who is still in Nigeria, to tell him that she was back in the Philippines.
According to him: "We spent government resources to try and find out what really happened to her. I was sent by the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) to Nigeria to personally look into her case, the case of Helera, and the 24 Filipino seamen,"
He continued: "We co-ordinated with the Nigerian authorities and really pushed them to produce results." Conejos described the Foroozan case an embarrassment to the Philippines.
It was the Filipino's Iranian husband who brought the case of his wife to the attention of the Philippines embassy in Nigeria after she sent him a text message about posed abduction.
Conejos explained that on the day of her supposed kidnap, Foroozan had flown out of Lagos, Nigeria to Frankfurt, Germany and, from there to Manila where her arrival was recorded by the immigration bureau.
Foroozan's relatives here, who had earlier criticised the department for not working hard enough for her release, have admitted she has still not been in touch with them but that they respect her decision.