Jimitota Onoyume
8 January 2009
interview
Celebrated novelist, Captain Elechi Amadi, abducted Monday night by armed youths at his residence in Aluu community, on the outskirts of Port Harcourt but released after spending 23 hours in captivity yesterday narrated his harrowing experience in the hands of his abductors saying it was the worst night in his entire life.
74 year old Amadi, who spoke with newsmen after he regained his freedom said he was blind folded for the entire period he was in the hands of his kidnappers and was made to sleep on a wet ground while a N300 million ransom was demanded from him.
He said they eventually released him when they realised that he had no money. He therefore advised the government at all levels to take the issue of youth empowerment very seriously in order to ensure a secured future for the upcoming generation.
Elechi Amadi's testimony on his ordeals runs thus:
We thank God you came out to tell the story yourself. Some were not really that lucky. Like we had a case of a ninety year old man who was taken hostage and later died in their custody. And they dumped the corpse in Choba. What was your experience like?
I can describe it as the worst night I have ever spent in my life. It all started with three heavily armed men who stormed my residence on Monday night. I thought they were my brothers because some of my brothers had held a meeting with me thirty minutes before so when we heard a knock on the door I thought it was one of them. Apparently, the person was fluent in Ikwerre. So when we said who is that, he spoke in Ikwerre. So my wife opened the door.
And then three armed men with rifles came in. They said we should sit down. They demanded for money. And I said I don't have. And they flared up: "Come on, you must have money!". They marched me to my bedroom. I had to give them the money I had kept for school fees of the children. And I told them that was all I had but they insisted I should bring dollars. I told them I don't have dollars. They finally said I should follow them.
I did not really know what to do. Apparently they were in a hurry to get away. We came out and quickly I examined the options opened to me. If I had been alone at home without my wife, I would have made a dash for it. But I feared that if I dared them even if I escaped they could shoot my wife.
So I decided to go quietly with them. As soon as I got into their waiting vehicle they blind folded my eyes. They tied a black cloth across my eyes. And for the next twenty-four hours I was with them that blindfold was there. We ended up in a swampy area. I was told to sleep on a swampy ground.
That is why I say it is the worst night I have ever spent. It was a wet and marshy ground. Two guards and I slept on the ground while the others went to mount sentries at different positions.
The wet floor was what bothered me health wise because I could get pneumonia easily. And you know it is harmattan now more so the night is cold.
At about 4am I started shivering I knew it was a very dangerous situation because if I develop pneumonia they would not treat me. May be that is what killed the old man you were talking about. The cold was what worried me most.
I told myself this was not a place one should spend two or three nights. Anyway, I got to talk to them.
They were threatening violence at first. When you are in that kind of state you don't keep silent because you don't know the mind set of your kidnappers. So I now opened a dialogue with them. I told them that as young men they were not supposed to be here, they should be out working.
And they said "ah, where can we work? The government will not give us jobs. Even the Okada we use to ply has been stopped, so where do we get jobs. We don't like to come and sleep on the cold floor to earn money".
I told them there are other ways. They could be rehabilitated etc. They said they were not interested in all that grammar that they were here for money, plain and simple. And that I should give them three hundred million naira.
I said ah, if it is money, they had got the wrong man. " You came to my house last night, what type of house is it, an ordinary bungalow, not walled round, no big cars, no security gate and barb wires", they said they saw all that.
If I had the money I told them they would have seen security gate and barb wires on high fence because it is when you have money you want to secure things. They said it is true. At the end they said they would release me the following day, that I was truly the wrong man. And truly the evening of the following day they did.
They also had heard that the governor was in my house that morning. They now said I should tell the governor to give me money for my release. I told them since they had my handset I can't reach the governor because his number was there.
They did not want to give me for fear that I could use the phone to make security calls. So I said I can't connect the governor since they had my phone. In the end they found they had the wrong man. Time was not on their side too, they knew the police were now zeroing in on them.
What were their ages?
Between eighteen and twenty five; at most thirty. In fact one of the boys who was sleeping on the floor with me said Sir; you are the author of The Concubine. And I said yes. I asked if he attended a secondary school, and he said he did. He mentioned one school and said he is from Ahoada. And I told him I was there as a Vice principal some time ago. I just said this to make them relax. He later said he attended earlier schools in Ikwerre area. I kept them talking to relax. They were threatening at a point when they did not see money.
Where could they be from?
I am sure they were drawn from different areas. Whether an Ikwerre man was there I can't tell. But whoever led them knows Aluu, my community very well, because the road they took me through in the community would not have been known by a non-indigene or somebody who is not very familiar with the area.
Were you given any food?
They gave me food at about 2 p.m. I had become very thirsty; I had to ask them for water. They kept saying they would bring, that they had sent a boat. In the end they brought bottled water and rice. I'm sure it was from a quick service restaurant (general laughter). I was very grateful for the water because it was really what I needed. I could not see the rice because I was still blindfolded. As I ate it was spilling all over.
Was it served with chicken or fish?
Yes (another general laughter)! I am sure it was the money I gave them. I managed to have the meal. Again if I had not eaten that food I would not have been able to do the five mile trek I did that night when I was released.
Where did they drop you?
Inside the bush. Around a disused oil location. So it must be in this Aluu general area. After they removed the folder from my eyes the youngman disappeared. I started trekking. I took the first bush path, it took me to an oil well, I stopped turned back, and headed to another bush path. I came back again.
It was the third one I took that I had to trek about five miles. I continued till I saw a flame, so I said that it must be a flow station with people working, that when I get there I will meet some people. By the time I got there I found my friend Sampson Agbaru and others who had been combing the area for me. So that was it oh.
Can you capture what the place you were kept looked like?
The environment was marshy; this was the kind of place they first took me to. In the morning they took me to a jungle.
You are reportedly asthmatic; did you suffer any crisis during your captivity?
Fortunately I did not. The marshy ground and the cold night are standard situation for asthmatic attacks. I thank God I did not suffer any.
Having been a 'guest' of militants in the creeks, what advice do you have for government as it relates to their struggle?
The boys said they were out for money. They want jobs. So I will say government should create jobs for the masses either by massive industrialisation or massive agricultural projects. There is urgent need to get the youths employed. I empathise with their situation this probably was why they released me.
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