At about 20:30Hrs on this day in 2014, I was released by kidnappers after a most traumatic experience. The night before, I was served strokes of a thorny cane on my bare back. About 10:00Hrs this day, I was taken to a bamboo-shaded area of the forest. A gun was placed on my head, and the safety-catch was released. I was expecting to translate to the realm of the dead, but it didn’t happen. My legs were cleared off the ground, and I landed on the severely itch-inducing bamboo leaves. The sound of a gunshot fired into the sky deafened me. Seconds later, I realised I was still alive. Dead people don’t see and hear, do they?
At about 13:30Hrs, a thick block-like bottle of spirit was violently landed on my head. As blood pulsating excluded from the wound, another vicious blow landed on my chest. A borehole surgery was inevitable about three months later.
All the beatings this day was because the promised ransom was not forthcoming.
At about 19:30Hrs, a dependable friend, Man-of-God, delivered the ransom.
The details from the outset until release will be served in the future. Surviving a wet week as an unwilling guest of kidnappers is certainly not what to wish an enemy.
Eleven years after, I thank God for being merciful. The kidnappers? All but one have met their Waterloo – dead. I thank everyone that God used. What would have been the state of my body in an unmarked shallow grave? Do you know these hymns?
● Praise To The Lord, The Almighty….
● Through All The Changing Scenes…..
Ray Ozolua
