Abdulkareem Haruna, an Assistant Editor/Bureau Chief, North-East Region for the Premium Times, was kidnapped while on his way to Bauchi from Abuja. After spending three days in captivity, he was released. Now he narrates his experience in the hands of kidnappers.
It is nearly two months now since my encounter with kidnappers. While I remained in captivity, friends and colleagues fought hard to secure my freedom. As I later learned, the security forces and relevant authorities received our complaints and offered solidarity. The consensus was to negotiate and meet the terms of my captors.
I have struggled since then to narrate my experience, but at each attempt, I found it difficult to put my fingers to the keyboard. Telling a personal story, especially one as horrifying as this, isn’t as straightforward as writing about people, events, and issues – the usual pastime of journalists.
A psychologist who saw me through my trauma management session advised I try as much as possible to tell my story to whoever cares to listen, after all, a burden shared is one half-solved.
As weeks passed, friends, family, and colleagues worried I might forget important details of my encounter. Not true. No one goes through such horror, not least a journalist, and forgets any bit of it. The details are always there, a haunting nightmare.
You can read the story of his captivity here.
Photo: Premium Times, Ezekiel Oyero
