Our son Steve, who is part of the TFI (The Family International) in Nigeria, phoned us some weeks back. "I'm fine, Mom," he told me. "But I do have a prayer request. Today, Simon and Ikumi were taken hostage on their way home. I'm at their house and was planning on going to the Medical Camp site tomorrow. But now I will stay here and help Simon's wife with their children instead. Please pray that they will get released soon, without harm!" Pray we did and following is the official account:
The Story of the Armed Kidnapping in Nigeria
(By Family Care, with collaboration and additions from Josh, Ikumi and others.)
Family Care was about to undertake another Free Rural Medical Aid camp in a remote area of Nigeria, something it has done dozens of times during the past 10 years in 22 states throughout this African country. However, this one would prove to be different.
It all began when Josh, Family Care National Project Manager, received a phone call from Simon and Ikumi, missionaries of The Family International, informing him that they had been kidnapped and were “allowed to call for just one minute”![Note: Family Care Nigeria is an independent NGO that has often involved missionaries of The Family International in playing vital roles in the setup and execution of these medical camps, while partnering with dozens of Christian doctors and medical personnel who donate their time and talents to the endeavor.]
After contacting Simon and Ikumi’s respective embassies in Lagos, Josh was contacted by a counterterrorism specialist in Europe who handles hostage situations. She was very helpful and provided immediate tips and counsel on how to talk to kidnappers and handle calls from them, just hours before Josh had the opportunity to speak directly with the kidnapper. The project sponsors also put us in touch with the Nigerian State Secret Service (SSS), which is also quite adept in such matters.
Obviously this development caused many changes in the plans that were underway! Two of the main doctors who are on the management board of Family Care, and who have been participating in medical camps for the past nine years, were already at the staging ground for the medical camp. Meanwhile, another 50 volunteer medical personnel were in various stages of preparation for the lengthy drive to the remote project location. While the volunteer doctors are all Nigerians and therefore not necessarily the same kind of targets as foreigners, we nevertheless felt we should explain the overall situation to them and ask them to discuss and pray about one of three options:1. Calling off the whole mission, Free Rural Medical Aid project, and the malaria prevention and control project.
2. Only doing the malaria prevention and control aspect of the mission, meaning we could cut back on the number of doctors and other medical personnel who needed to attend.
3. Going ahead with both malaria and medical aspects of the camp, but scaling back the more obvious presence of foreigners while also beefing up security.
Family Care management had appointed Heads of Department (HODs) for each of the teams of volunteer doctors at the medical camp; surgery, dental, ophthalmic, general practitioners, pharmacists, etc., most of whom are General or Active members of TFI. We asked each of the HODs to communicate with the other doctors on their teams and pray about whether they should proceed with the mission and travel to the project site the next day (an 11-hour drive for some of the teams), or call off the project. This discussion with the HODs and doctors involved unanimously confirmed what we had received from the Lord: that we should proceed and try to turn this into a testimony; that even though this evil had befallen us, as Christians we still wanted to follow through with these free medical services; that as an example to the chiefs and people, we were doing this because we loved them with Christ’s love, just as Christ loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8).
So while plans for the medical camp went forward, Josh remained at home base in order to focus on maintaining close contact with Simon, Ikumi, and their kidnappers.
To provide some background here: Simon and Ikumi had departed from the medical staging area (at 11:15 A.M.) and were en route to Enugu State (a five- or six-hour drive from the project site) to pick up some of the doctors who would be participating in the medical camp. Before the kidnapping occurred, Ikumi had called one of the team to get some information (at 1:41 P.M.). So, based on the timing of her call, we estimated that they were probably somewhere between Rivers State and Enugu at the time of the kidnapping incident.
Ikumi writes of the kidnapping incident itself: “While driving, we heard shooting behind us, and then saw men with guns in front, who also started shooting. We figured it wasn't a good idea to reverse, so we pulled over and tried to lie low. It was roughly 2:30 P.M. on day one.
“Five armed men then commandeered our vehicle at gunpoint, with some climbing in the back of our pickup, and others squishing us between them in the seat as they headed off the highway and into the bush.
“We were desperately praying, and the Lord spoke to me in prophecy and made three things very clear: 1) I would not be harmed. 2) We would be released in a week. 3) I would be able to talk to the kidnappers about the Lord and our work.
“As we bounced down a dirt road, I tried to explain to one of the men (who turned out to be the main boss for that group) about our missionary work, and showed him a brochure so he could see photos of our work, and an Activated magazine, which he took and looked over.
“After driving for some time, they pulled over and looted the vehicles, and at that point we realized that they had kidnapped six people (three men and three women), in addition to us. Just before the main man got out of our pickup, he said, ‘You know, someone gave us a tip that you were coming this way.’
“By this time we had also been given the opportunity to make a call, so Simon called Josh in Lagos.
“After witnessing our kidnappers beat up two of the Nigerian hostages, we were put back in our pickup and driven deeper into the bush. It was dark by then. We got out and walked to where they told us to sit down. We had no idea what was going to happen, and we sat there for about half an hour. Most of us hostages decided to lie down and sleep right there on the ground. By then, it had been about 18 hours since Simon and I had had any food or water. Before we went to sleep, the kidnappers came around and blindfolded the men.
“All through the night, we kept getting a bright flashlight shone in our faces.”
Early the next morning, day two, Josh received a call from Ikumi, on Simon's cell phone, the second call since the announcement from Simon that they had been apprehended. Ikumi said that they had not been harmed, but that the conditions were bad and they were out in the bush.
Ikumi resumes her story: “When day dawned, they brought a jerry can of water, and after everyone drank, they blindfolded the other women. Then they started telling everyone to call their people to demand money, and getting very physical and beating up some of our fellow hostages. Most of them emerged with blood running down their faces, so that by the time each talked to their people by phone, they were in tears or crying out in pain, illustrating how serious the situation was.
“I tried not to look at all this, as that would have severely unnerved me. I don’t like to see people getting hurt or suffering pain, especially at another person’s hands. I knew they wanted to freak us out, some kind of psychological thing.
“When they got to us, one guy tapped my jaw, asking us why we didn't want to call our people. I calmly looked up at him and told him I had no phone. Then he went and got the phone for me. I called Josh.”
When Ikumi called, Josh could hear a kidnapper in the background prompting her, saying in a strong Nigerian accent, “Tell them we want 100 billion!” Because Ikumi did not understand what the kidnapper was saying, Josh asked to speak with him. Josh surmised he was probably in an armed gang, not necessarily a member of MEND* or some other political group that tends to run a more sophisticated operation. When Josh asked him his name, or what he should call him, the kidnapper answered “Killer.” *[Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria]
Josh had already explained that he was a missionary, and he went on to explain that we were not in a position to offer ransom, which is what they were demanding.
About an hour later, Ikumi called back, this time on another cell phone, and asked Josh to call back the number that showed on his phone. This indicated that this was probably a gang with a pay-as-you-go phone who don't want to have to pay the cost of the call!
When Josh called back and spoke to the kidnapper briefly, he asked to speak to Simon, and reassured him that someone was with his wife and kids, and that they were getting all the support they needed.
Simon confirmed that they were being treated okay, but said that conditions were bad and that he felt he might be coming down with malaria, as they were sleeping in the open. We then added to this and asked the kidnappers if because of Simon's age and the fact that he had multiple serious health problems, was there a way that we could urgently send medication that Simon needed to the camp. This seemed to have worried them, as they obviously didn’t want to be slowed down by having to move a sick or incapacitated hostage around in the bush.
When Josh again spoke with the kidnapper, he said not to call him again until the ransom money was ready to be deposited, at which time Josh was to call this same new phone number. Josh relayed this to the German security officer as well as the Nigerian State Secret Service, to see if they could triangulate the general location of both this cell phone number and Simon’s cell phone, since the kidnappers and our folks were together in the same location.
Josh was then able to speak to the kidnapper for some time on the phone, witnessing and talking about the Lord and TFI’s missionary work in Nigeria, explaining that he had given 14 years of his life and youth as a missionary to support and develop this country spiritually and physically. Two points we made very clear: 1) If our missionaries were harmed at any time, Josh would no longer take his call or call back, and the case would be handed to the police, and 2) Josh would only speak to him after first being allowed to speak with Simon or Ikumi. He agreed and stuck to his word throughout the negotiations. When Josh stopped witnessing, the kidnapper asked in an annoyed tone, “Are you through preaching? I don’t want to hear any more of this … don’t call me again till you have the money!”
Ikumi writes, “I don’t know all the details of the conversations our kidnapper had with Josh, but the main guy toned down his intensity afterwards. Of course, we were praying desperately for Josh the whole time. Josh had also let us know that a worldwide prayer request had been sent out for us, which was very encouraging.”
Meanwhile, the Family Care medical camp was scheduled to kick off the following day.
(At varying times throughout the year, the Family Care Nigeria team gathers 50–60 volunteer doctors and medical personnel—which includes a full spectrum of general practitioners, surgeons, gynecologists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, dentists, nurses, and logistical staff—and they converge in rural areas of the Niger Delta states to host a weeklong free health care program for the local people and surrounding communities.
Typically, people show up by the thousands. One of the first organizational steps is crowd control. Then each attendee is assigned a treatment card, is seen by a general practitioner, and is referred to specific treatment according to their diagnosis. So all attendees—men, women and children—meet with a general practitioner and receive basic medical tests, including a blood pressure test, as part of their medical consultation. And this year a separate malaria screening and treatment program had been added.
After the initial medical consultation, anyone in need of further care, such as eye treatment and/or operations, is then directed to the proper specialist and section, and those with dental needs to the dental section. The final stop for diagnosed patients is the pharmacy, where the pharmaceutical team tirelessly dispenses free medication, filling hundreds of free prescriptions daily during the weeklong medical project.)
We had decided to really scale down the presence of foreigners, although this forced us to improvise a great deal, as well as lean more heavily on the Nigerian HODs than ever before. They all rose to the occasion, with a minimum of supervision from the foreign project managers and coordinators already on location, who for the first two days of the camp operated under the equivalent of “house arrest” in their hotels, and were only able to communicate via cell phone with the HODs, due to the security lockdown which the local security officials had enforced.
Only when it was determined that the kidnapping had taken place in another state was the lockdown lifted, meaning that the nearby foreigners could travel to the site of the medical camp. At that point, others from the organizing team were also able to join the rest of the team on location. Our sponsors offered to fly us down and arranged armored car pickups for us at the airport, as well as beefing up our security in general. So we were again able to travel freely to the medical camp, though only when accompanied by a heavily armed security detail.
All in all, it was no small feat that the medical and malaria camp got underway, with so much changing from hour to hour.
Meanwhile, back to our dear team members, Simon and Ikumi, who write: “In the absence of an mp3 player, we sang songs that we knew by heart. Just a little note of thanks here to the Memory Book songwriters and singers, Emmanuel Gilligan, Philip Johnson, Ezra Milestone, Jerry Paladino, Francesco and Cryssy, and a host of others. Your songs helped to keep our spirits calm and helped us pass on that spirit of peace and calm to the other hostages, as they later attested.
“We sat around all day, the boredom broken only when someone would make a call out or when calls would come in. Otherwise, the kidnappers were just sitting around, cracking jokes, telling stories, etc. One of the guards started tuning in to what I was saying, laughing at my jokes. More then started listening, as we sang hymns and traditional Igbo songs with them.
“At one point I asked to sit farther from the guys. When asked why, I told the kidnappers that I wanted to take off my shoes and socks to air out my feet, but didn’t want to annoy them with bad odors. They laughed and agreed. When I settled into a spot a little ways away, it turned out to be one of the lookout points. So when the guard came back, I was able to talk to him in depth and pray with him to receive the Lord.
“The main guy situated himself a little farther away from the rest of the kidnappers, about 20 meters from us. I prayed, ‘Lord, it’s difficult to talk to them when they’re all so far away. Please engineer circumstances so that they’re closer, at least within speaking distance.’
“One man had walked off and half an hour later returned with ‘pure water’ and green mangoes. (“Pure water” is a Nigerian product of water in a sachet, known to be anything but pure.) He passed it around and then brought some over to us. We were thankful for at least something to eat and drink. They also brought us a little something to eat for dinner.
“I was allowed more and more freedom as the day wore on, and I walked around gathering leaves and ferns to make our place a little more comfortable to sit on. I could see the kidnappers were watching us very closely, but now with less of a hostile glare.
“Though I can’t say I slept very well that night, I at least had a little plastic bag that I ripped open and lay or sat on. Simon also had something at first, then it was taken from him, so we improvised with leaves and ferns.”
By this time, Josh had spoken with the main kidnapper a number of times, now doing so from an embassy while the calls were being monitored by security people and diplomats. This allowed Josh to get direct advice from hostage experts as well as to counsel with them regarding when to stand our ground and when to relax things somewhat.
By this time, after having received a steady witness from Josh, as well as from Ikumi and Simon, the kidnappers had not only dropped their exorbitant ransom demands but had become very friendly.
Ikumi adds this perspective, “The main guy’s tune changed after talking with us throughout the day, as well as to Josh. He started referring to Josh as ‘my brother’ and to us as ‘my friends.’”
We now hoped that Simon and Ikumi would be released soon. It appeared that ransoms were being paid by the families of the other hostages, and it appeared that the kidnappers were going to let Simon and Ikumi go at the same time. Through the contacts we had established, we arranged for an SSS security vehicle and armed detail to pick them up and escort them home, though this was on a standby basis, given the uncertainty of the situation and the location where they were being held. Finally, when our last call seemed to confirm that we had won their release, Richard, a Family member who runs a business in Port Harcourt, helped us organize a driver and vehicle to retrieve them.
Ikumi writes, “On day four of our captivity, we overheard the main kidnapper telling Josh that it was all a mistake, that we were kidnapped by accident, that he had wanted us released sooner, etc.
“So Josh sent a driver and a vehicle to pick us up. The kidnappers blindfolded the driver so that he wouldn’t know exactly where we were being held, and escorted him to our location.
“Everyone else had paid their ransom, so we were all going to be set free together. The main kidnapper, whom we had now befriended, even gave us each some money to help us get to our destination! He also suggested that he’d like us to sing at his daughter’s christening, but then realized it might jeopardize his security! Simon and I both gave him our phone numbers and e-mail addresses, so he could keep in touch if he wants to.
“As we walked out of the bush, with one man in front and one man behind us armed with AK-47s, they suddenly told us to stop. They cocked their semi-automatic weapons, while our hearts beat all the more rapidly. Then they told us to move, and to move fast. So off we went at a dash.
“Remember that most of us hadn't moved so much in the last four days, so people were easily out of breath and sweating heavily. But they told us to move faster, all the way to a dirt road, where we saw our vehicle and piled in. It was a five-seater, but we crammed in nine people. All of us hostages had to duck down so that we couldn't tell where we were coming from. After driving for some time along rough roads, they left us with instructions as to which roads to take from that point.
“We learned that another band of kidnappers had heard of ‘white hostages’ and were moving into the area to try to seize us! We were warned to follow instructions carefully if we valued our lives.
“We followed closely and ended up at the main road and some form of civilization. They had given us phones so that we could make contact, and we were soon on our way to Port Harcourt, under the protection of well-armed members of the State Security Service.
“As we drove, the other hostages began to tell their stories, focusing on how wicked the kidnappers were. Since that was far from inspiring, Simon and I suggested we pray and thank the Lord for His mercy in getting all of us out of that situation alive, and everyone calmed down. I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and prayed for safekeeping the remainder of the way.
“After what seemed like a lifetime, we arrived at the airport, where we met up with Jan and Paul (from my mission base) and some people from my embassy. They wanted to greet me and see how I was, if I were whole in body and mind, etc. One of them called my dad, and I talked with him for a few minutes. We then got on a flight to Lagos, where we met up with Josh and then went to our respective embassies for debriefing and medical checkups.
“That night we stayed at Josh’s home, and the first thing I wanted to do was shower. I washed my hair three times and scrubbed my body at least four times for some semblance of cleanliness.
“Thank you all so much for your support and prayers during this experience. We kept quoting Psalm 91, and prayer and praise really helped too. It’s amazing how many little prayers were answered and how many little miracles the Lord did on our behalf. We didn’t get any bug bites, there was no rain at all, we had a shady place to stay, had some food and water, relative freedom, didn’t suffer any physical abuse, etc.
“Yes, there was loss. Simon and I both had laptops stolen. My camera and phone are also gone. But we thank God for life and for caring, loving friends like you who were faithful to be by our side in prayer.”
Thank God for this miraculous answer to prayer! And to top it off, the medical and malaria camp was a major success as well.
(As the thousands of attendees depart after benefiting from the free Family Care program, they often pause to thank the obviously overworked volunteers for providing them with the otherwise inaccessible or unaffordable medical care.
This is especially true of those who undergo life-altering surgeries, who know full well that if the program hadn’t come to their village, they might have continued to suffer indefinitely, resulting in a difficult and perhaps shortened life. For most it is therefore a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
From the perspective of the medical and volunteer personnel, the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment is indescribable. Seeing crying children now treated and calm, and adults walking away with a new strength and bounce to their step, many having recuperated from surgery, some who’d had double cataracts now with sight restored, and then experiencing those same individuals embracing their loved ones and turning to again thank you, is priceless!
Many of the medical volunteers commented that they took part in order to give, but realized that they’d gained much more in return, so that in the end they could not call their participation a sacrifice.)
Despite the setbacks, challenges and changes, the Lord strengthened the doctors to give their all. The result: Over 2,800 people at the project (as well as one of the kidnappers) gave their life to Christ. The surgeons and theatre team in a converted and sterilized hall, using Family Care’s mobile theatre equipment, operated on 107 patients. Ophthalmologists performed 28 sight-restoring eye surgeries, also in a converted room, using a mobile ophthalmic unit. Optometrists screened and tested 806 patients and gave out 540 free prescription eyeglasses and lenses. Dentists molded dentures, carried out extractions and S&P on 268 patients. The general practitioners consulted 2,782 patients, with the pharmacists dispensing free medication to the same number. In all, 3,991 patients received free medical treatment and medication.
On the malaria control and prevention front: 1,627 members of the community were screened for malaria parasites using “Rapid Diagnostic Test” (DTTs) kits. Some 250 were given free medication and treated for malaria. A total of 6,245 community members received training and malaria awareness lectures or seminars, with 520 state health workers receiving additional specialized and extensive training. Finally, 8,300 Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLITNs) were distributed free of charge, to be hung over families’ and individual’s beds, helping prevent malaria and mosquito bites.
