VOL: Can you tell us the circumstances surrounding your kidnapping?

KATTEY: I was on my way with my wife to meet with the Standing Committee of the diocese at the Pt. Harcourt Hotel. It was 10:30 pm; we were driving overnight for a Saturday morning meeting. I had made the trip many times so I was well known in the area. I was wearing a full cassock, so the kidnappers knew who I was.

The kidnappers stepped out onto the road and hit on the car and ordered it stopped. They threw the driver out of the car and pushed him into the back seat with the three kidnappers. I asked them what they wanted.

VOL: Did they have weapons?

KATTEY: Not at first, but later they showed me a gun they had and threatened me.

VOL: What happened then?

KATTEY: They searched the car for anything they could find. Then they took me and my wife into the bush. We thought at first they were simply robbers.

VOL: Did they have a name they called themselves?

KATTEY: No. They did not give us any name.

VOL: What happened next?

KATTEY: We stumbled into the bush. It was drizzling. They threatened my wife with death when she slipped and fell down. I said I would not leave my wife. For the first 30 minutes we walked and then sat down. They wanted us to walk further into the bush, but I sat down on my cassock and pleaded with them to let her go. They said no. We marched on. For nine nights and days, my wife and I trekked into the bush at gunpoint with my wife crying a lot of the time. Later the three kidnappers were joined by another seven in the bush.

VOL: Did you travel at all by day?

KATTEY: We travelled mostly by night so we would not be caught. They were very afraid.

After a few days, they agreed to release my wife. She said, “I won’t leave you.” I said. “You must go.”

They conferred for a long time and then agreed to let her go. They escorted her for 2 – 3 miles and then told her to follow the light and then left her as they were afraid they might get caught. They also let the driver go.

Later we learned the driver had alerted the Police.

VOL: Then what happened?

KATTEY: We started out on the road and walked for 7 kilometers into the bush without food or water. The forest was so dense that at times we were crawling on our hands and knees. Finally we came to a hut, near a larger building. I learned that my captors had been walking for two hours in a circle to confuse me. It was very dark.

One day they took my watch and golden cross. It was only worth about $10 dollars (2,000 Naire.) They began giving me some food consisting of rice and chicken, telling me that they were not trying to poison me. We often slept till 4am and then we went back into the bush.

VOL: Could you estimate the age of your kidnappers?

KATTEY: I suppose they were in their early 20s. Once I said to them, “Would you do to this your grandfather? They said, “Bishop, we know you.” Often I slept on the floor surrounded by snakes and animals, any one of which could have bitten me and killed me.

VOL: At what point did they ask for money?

KATTEY: On the third night the leader came to me and said, “You are the archbishop. We want 10 million Naire (about $70,000). I said, “I don’t have that kind of money. I am just a pastor.” I asked to see if my wife had arrived home safely. He had taken out her SIM card so I was able to call her. I called and we spoke and I said I was fine. I then said to the leader, “Would you do this to your Imam?” I later learned that the Imam had come to see my wife, to see if she was okay. His convinced me that this was not a religious kidnapping.

VOL: Tell us more about the experience itself.

KATTEY: We kept moving for 9 days. All the time they were afraid. I was fed only once a day. At one point, they heard a noise. They saw a dog with a hunter. They threatened to shoot me if I cried out. The hunters were looking for me. They had been organized by the archdeacon to look for me.

On the 11th at 7pm, they were asking the leader to release me. They tied my legs for two days and then they untied them. I learned that their leader was staying at a nearby hotel to collect the ransom money.

Food was running short. On Saturday before I was released, they were getting hungry so we all lay down and prayed. They had a few Naire they took from me and they went into the nearest town to buy food.

On the last night, a Saturday, they wanted to kill me. They gave me my wife’s SIM card and told me to call her. But then they suddenly changed their mind. They dropped their demands for the money and gave me 200 Naire, took me out of the jungle, and with one captor walked me to the main road where he hired a motorcycle to take me back home. As I stumbled out of the forest, I saw people passing by and I knew I was free. By now it was dark again. I hired a motorbike and the man took me to my home.

VOL: Were the kidnappers ever caught? Was a ransom paid?

KATTEY: Yes. Later the three kidnappers were caught. I was officially released at about 6:30 p.m. behind a filling station at Eleme in Rivers state. My captors let me go because the police were about to close in on them. No ransom was paid.

VOL: What did you do then?

KATTEY: I called my Archbishop Nicholas Okoh. He came to my home, not once but twice, and was very comforting. I later got a call from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. I learned that some Muslims were also praying for me.

VOL: Thank you archbishop.

END