TEARS, AND TORTURE: 33 Days in Kidnappers Den

TEARS, &TORTURE

_ 33 Days in Kidnappers Den

Stephen Ojapah

Copyright ©Stephen Ojapah,2024

All Rights Reserved

This book is subject to the condition that no part of this book is to be reproduced, transmitted in any form or means; electronic or mechanical, stored in a retrieval system, photocopied, recorded, scanned, or otherwise. Any of these actions require the proper written permission of the author.

Author

Stephen Ojapah

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter One  Humble Beginning

Chapter Two  A Priest till The End

Chapter Three  Nigeria - A Traumatised Nation

Chapter Four  A Nation In Paradox

Chapter Five   The Rise of Boko Haram (2009-2014)

Chapter Six  A Text Announcing My Death

Chapter Seven  The D-Day

Chapter Eight  Daily Life with The Kidnappers

Chapter Nine  Phone Calls

Chapter Ten  The Voice of The Only Woman Among Us

Chapter Eleven   The Mysteries of Tragedy

Chapter Twelve  Tears

Chapter Thirteen  Trauma and Building Resilience

Chapter Fourteen  The Evolution of Insecurity (2015-2024)

APPENDIX

Conclusion

Reviews at the Back of the Book

Dedication

To God Almighty who gave me a second chance in life and the opportunity to tell my story. To my late father whose sense of humour and love for reading has not departed from me; my mom who taught me the value of prayer. In a special way I dedicate this book to the good people of Gidan Mai Kambu, in the Catholic diocese of Katsina who gave me the opportunity to serve them. In a more special way, I dedicate this work to the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto.

Acknowledgements

This work has only been possible, thanks to the many people who have seen me develop in my public life. Sadly, this page will not be able to mention many of them, not because they did not contribute enough, but for want of space.  Many people encouraged me to write about my experience. I started writing immediately after our release, but the trauma was too real for me to continue. I thank my bishop and mentor, Matthew Hassan Kukah, the priests and the religious of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto for standing by us when we needed them most. My spiritual family is the Missionary Society of St Paul. I thank you all most warmly. My immediate family has been very instrumental in aiding my healing process.

My mother, Mrs. Maryamoh Ojapah, never stopped suggesting ways for me to improve, Whatever good exercise you can engage in, she says, including prayer and writing.

My immediate brothers and sisters, Mary-Anne, Bibiana, Patrick and Boniface, have been wonderful in providing me with helpful information about what happened on the days we were with the kidnappers. All my cousins, to mention a few of them. Albert, Alphonsus, Fr Henry, Lawrence, Sr Jane Ojapah EHJ. Many I am not able to capture here; thank most sincerely. The fact that I've been able to write this far shows how far I've come. Father Cosmas Nwosu MSP has constantly reminded me to write about this experience, but I didn't stick to his advice to keep it short and brief.

When I got the recordings of the phone conversations between the bandits and the negotiator, I tried to translate some from the Hausa language to English. But I realised that it would take a lot more effort, so it was Ummie Hassan, (one of the victims of the incident) who, helped me. Although it was a very traumatic conversation, she managed to overcome the pain of reviewing the conversations about her 33 days in captivity. . In trying to contextualize this work, I wanted to obtain data on the killings between Boko Haram and banditry since the creation of Boko Haram, and I contacted Beacon Security and Intelligence (BSI) and Chasuth Intelligence (Chasuth). BSI generously granted me access to their data, but I had already received a response from Chasuth Intelligence—my sincere thanks to BSI. As a result, the data analysed here is exclusively that of Chasuth Intelligence. I would like to thank Tolu Ola-David for helping me understand the data and carry out the analysis professionally. When I finished this work, I sent it to my American mother, Mrs Tina Dirksen, for review. Her criticism and insights have made this a great piece of academic and pastoral literature.

Frs Evaristus Abu and Justin Dyikuk have been invaluable in providing me with their insights and comments. I am also grateful to Sr Esther Esawe - EHJ, Sr Cecilia Maundu - Focolarina, and Sr Jovita Ochi - SCS for their deep insights and reviews. I thank Sr. Susan Didam SSL and Mrs Charity Obetta for their valuable corrections. When Sr Nancy Gregory OP proof read the work, she added some dynamics I had not noticed. I'd like to thank Sr. Nancy for going through the work. I sincerely thank Father Oliver Okpara, Ummie Hassan and Hassan Fareed Hassan for giving me the energy to pull through when I needed it most in life—those horrible days of trekking with guns. God put you in my path to make this kidnapping less painful.

Lastly my appreciation also goes to Fr Moses Amune, MSP, and Mr Peter Maundu. To Fr Amune, thank you sincerely for helping me settle into the UK Mission so quickly. Your brotherly care is second to none. You never stopped enquiring about the work's progress and gave me space to work when needed. You are truly a brother and a friend. To Mr Peter Maundu, from the EU Business School in Geneva: THANK YOU. I wish I could say it louder in Swahili: Asante sana. You gave a brilliant look to my poor work. I am deeply grateful to you.

Preface

One of my greatest dreams in life was to write a book one day. But I had a big problem with the subject. I thought that I would have enough to write about after ten years working in the Diocese of Sokoto and having helped resolve numerous crises and conflicts between Muslims and Christians. At best, I thought I would write about the experiences of others, as I did in my Sunday Reflections on the Daily Trust News Papers. It is with sadness and joy that I am writing my first book about my personal life experience in the Diocese of Sokoto, which ended with a story of abduction. That story changed me forever; it completely redefined me because I now see life differently. Certain passages of Scripture seem more alive to me than before, in many ways, because of that experience.

It was difficult for me to start writing about this experience because every letter and every piece of writing caused me a lot of pain at first. I tried not to write about this experience because it reminded me of the darkest days of my human existence. After months of silence, I suddenly realized that one of the best ways to heal internally was to communicate this experience through writing. When I wrote about this experience, I saw myself walking along the bush path, in the dungeons, in the rain and the scorpion stings, not as a kidnapped victim again, but as a victor.

My whole life in the Diocese of Sokoto has been, in my opinion, very productive. I look back with great pride and a sense of fulfilment. I feel that I have not wasted my time working with the poor villagers of Gidan Mai Kambu. I am proud and happy to have had the time to work with Bishop Kukah and all the wonderful experiences communicated in the book were possible because of the support I received working with him. . He was a father and mentor par excellence. This book is a journey about Nigeria, but especially to the north of the country. For all other readers, (non-Nigerians), this is an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of a people far from their own country or continent, perhaps they or members of their family might one day live in Nigeria.

Foreword

Arrest, detention, threats, intimidation, torture, imprisonment and so on are often the strategies that dictators use to bring those opposed to them into line. Usually, when countries are under a dictatorship, military or civilian, these are the strategies they use to cow citizens or to command obedience. The stories of many nations are full of these phases of the lives of many citizens.

When detainees, or prisoners are released the world always awaits their stories, but of course, this all depends on the stature of the person in question. It also depends on the circumstances in which these people find themselves. Often, the state engages in psychological torture by denying you access to loved ones, denying you reading materials, access to print or electronic media. Denial of access to writing materials is often at the top of the list of violations. Naturally, the tyrant would never give you a chance to tell your story.

When Ngugi Wa Thiongo the famous writer was detained in the late 70s, he later published an account of his experience titled, Detained: A Writer’s Prison Diary, in 1981. After the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was freed from detention after one week in Birmingham, USA, he published his searing book titled, A Letter from a Birmingham Jail, in 1963. He, like Ngugi had relied on toilet paper to write his letter. In his own case, he had used long hand to write the letter. When he came out of detention by the military regime, Wole Soyinka published his memoirs titled, The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka, in 1972. Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom gave a great account of his time in Robben Island and so on.

The book in your hands however is not exactly the same. Fr. Stephen Ojapah was not captured by the agents of the Nigerian State. He was not captured because of an offence he created. On the contrary, had it been left to his parishioners, the great work he was doing for them would have required that he be rewarded in another way as a sign of their love and appreciation. Rather, Fr. Ojapah, like thousands of his fellow countrymen and women, fell victim to a dysfunctional state which had been literally overrun by hordes of criminals and bandits running riot across the country. He and others like him are victims of a country that is unable to protect its citizens, security agencies that have, in some instances constitute a tag team with the bandits and kidnappers. No one knows if this story will ever be told.

The book in your hands tells a very sad story of how horrible things can and do happen to good people. Fr. Ojapah and his colleague, Fr. Oliver Okpara were serving in the Parish of Gidan Maikambu in the Kafur Local Government of Katsina state. They had and still enjoyed their services to their parishioners when their peace was suddenly invaded and their harmony sadly brought to an end. Together with two siblings, Ummie and Hassan who had come on a visit, they were violently taken away that night.

The book in your hands tells the story as best as they can try to recollect. Unlike the enemies of State that I have referred to above, they were abducted by people who did not know them and had perhaps nothing personal beyond their evil quest for money at all cost. The book already tells you the account of their experiences in the hands of these beasts, in human flesh. But as you