Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

After ordeal in Nigeria, an emotional reunion for Murugan

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ever since he flew back home to Thiruvananthapuram on July 3, Murugan, who was kidnapped and held hostage by militants in Nigeria since June 15, has been on an emotional roller coaster.

The relief and joy of freedom was often tempered by sadness over the trauma his family experienced during his days in captivity. Overwhelmed though he was with the media and public attention back home, Mr. Murugan’s mind was at Parvathypuram near Nagarcoil. He wanted to go there as soon as possible and see his mother Rajam, whose ailments had turned worse after she came to know of his kidnapping. On Wednesday night, Mr. Murugan was in his mother’s arms, consoling her, reassuring her that he was indeed safe and sound. “She is feeling much better now,” he told The Hindu over phone from Parvathypuram on Thursday.

It was on June 15 that Mr. Murugan, along with his friend Antony Maran, was kidnapped by gun-wielding militants at Sepele Delta.

The 41-year-old specialist in rubber processing still remembers vividly the morning his car was stopped by two people with big “military- style guns.” “It was about 7.20 a.m.,” he told The Hindu from his hous e at Kamaleswaram, here, on Wednesday. “After forcing us to stop, the militants directed the driver to get inside the car’s boot. We were asked to get inside their car.”

About 20 minutes later, the hostages found themselves on the banks of the river Ethiopia where they found two more militants waiting with a speed boat. “All this while we were very afraid thinking they would kill us. As soon as the speed boat took us to a remote location, the militants told us they were only looking for money and that they will not kill us,” he recalled.

For the next seven days they stayed in that swampy area where the militants fed them nuts and an occasional banana. They were also informed that the price for their release was the equivalent in Nigerian currency of Rs. 65 crore. At this point the hostages realised that the militants had kidnapped them thinking they worked for some oil company.

By June 19 the government of Nigeria agreed to pay the militants an amount equivalent to Rs. 1 crore.

That day the militants decided to shift the duo to a village in the middle of a plantation in the Bayalisa area. “By then the Indian High Commissioner to Lagos, Vishwanathan, had spoken to the President of Nigeria, who asked the army to intervene. Since my company was not ready to pay money to the militants, what the army did was to call the local villagers and tell them to pose as representatives of my company.”

These ‘company representatives’ met the militants and promised to pay them the equivalent of Rs. 75 lakh. On June 25 these ‘representatives’ brought a heavily loaded sack and put it in the militants’ speed boat. When the militants came forward to take the ‘money’ they were surrounded and taken captive by the villagers. When the militants standing guard over the hostages heard of the villagers’ ploy they threatened to kill the hostages. “By the grace of God nothing happened.”

Will he go back to Nigeria to work? Left to himself, Mr. Murugan would definitely go back. The only thing holding him back are the fervent pleas of his wife and two children.

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