‘Jowizaza’s lifestyle made kidn@ppers think we have money’ — Ezeokafor’s daughter blames brother for father’s Kidn@pping

Blessing Ezeokafor, daughter of kidnapped businessman and Jezco Group chairman, Chief Joseph Ezeokafor, has accused her younger brother, Eberechukwu Ezeokafor, popularly known as Jowizaza, of contributing to their father’s abduction and the increase in the ransom demand.

Blessing, said to be the businessman’s first child, made the allegations in a series of social media posts while appealing for her father’s safe release.

According to her, Jowizaza’s flamboyant lifestyle and frequent display of wealth on social media allegedly created the impression that the family had huge financial resources, prompting the kidnappers to increase their ransom demand from N700 million to N1.5 billion.

She insisted that the family was not as wealthy as portrayed online, claiming that they were already heavily indebted.

“Why Jowizaza my brother? You are the cause of this madness. Social media noise, when we don’t have that money. You use audio money to make hoodlums think the money is available.”

Blessing further alleged that her brother had previously run their father’s company into financial difficulties before he was removed as a director and placed on a monthly salary of N1 million.

She also claimed that the family owed billions of naira to banks, questioning how her brother could agree to pay N700 million to secure their father’s release when, according to her, he did not have N100 million in liquid cash.

“Making noise, when we are owing bank N40billion. And these people think the money is there, see what your madness exposing has done to us.”

Addressing the kidnappers directly, Blessing pleaded with them to release her father, insisting that the wealth displayed by her brother on social media did not reflect the family’s actual financial situation.

“Kidnappers they don’t have money, it is audio money, please leave my dad alone. Please release him, they are swimming in debt.”

She defended her decision to make the allegations publicly, saying she wanted the kidnappers to understand what the family could realistically afford rather than assume they had access to huge sums of money.

Blessing also expressed concern about her father’s health, saying he needs his medication and that she did not want anything to happen to him while in captivity.

She further warned bloggers against exaggerating the family’s wealth, saying such reports could further endanger her father.

The development comes amid reports that the kidnappers holding Chief Ezeokafor, a septuagenarian businessman and father of Jowizaza, increased their ransom demand from N700 million to N1.5 billion. The family is reportedly seeking his safe release.