• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

The Kidnap

100 days in captivity: Story of the abducted corps members

One cool evening as I was returning from my after school class, it was about 6 pm. I was walking the lonely path that leads to my house when I heard someone call my name. I turned around and saw a black Toyota Corolla pull up, (it looked my cousin Vinny’s car) so I walked over to the car and peeped inside when suddenly someone grabbed me from behind. I wanted to scream but the person put his hands over my mouth, then hurled me inside the car. I looked around and saw one masked man in the back seat and another masked person in the front including the driver. The car sped down the deserted streets. Then everything went dark. They had forced a dirty handkerchief into my mouth and put a bag over my head. “Oh my God, I’ve been kidnapped!”

After what seemed like hours of driving the car finally came to a halt. Someone picked me up and dumped me roughly on his shoulder, I kicked and punched him as hard as I could but my strength was no match with his. He dropped me on the ground like a sack of potatoes and I thought my ribs were broken as I landed on the hard floor. Then they took the bag off my head. I looked around as my eyes began to slowly adjust to the light. I was in a place that looked like a prison in an uncompleted building.

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It took some effort but I tried to sit up. The hairs on my body stood as I shivered, not from cold but because of fear and the pain that tore through my body.
One of the kidnappers began to talk. “Young girl in case you’re wondering why you’re here I’ll tell you. We know that your father works in a bank and your mother owns a large jewellery store. We’ve kidnapped you and we will keep you here until your father pays the ransom money and your mother gives us all the jewels in her shop. “HA HA HA HA!.” he snarled showing his tobacco-stained teeth. With that, they left.

I shouldn’t have walked home by myself. I should have waited for my friends but they were going to the ice cream shop and I didn’t want to go with them because it was getting late. “What am I going to do?” I thought to myself as I looked around the cell. I noticed a bunch of keys on the floor where one of the kidnappers had been sitting. It was a Eureka moment for me! What a discovery! This was definitely going to change things for sure. How stupid these people were. It looked like their mistake was about to become my miracle. I had to think of something fast.

They had left the “prison gate” unlocked so I slowly snuck out and peered outside the window. The kidnappers were outside. I had no idea what time it was but where the kidnappers were sitting was well lit so I scanned everywhere quickly. The place looked like a residential area. The uncompleted building was within a large fenced compound. You’d never suspect that anything shady was going on there. One of the kidnappers was on the phone. I heard him saying, “Mr man if you ever want to see your little girl again then you will give me 5 thousand dollars and all the jewelry in your wife’s shop.”
I stepped back from the window. I was afraid. What to do now? I asked myself.
I had the keys to the gate so what next? My heart was pounding in my chest.

I walked back to the cell and shut the gate quietly. I still had the keys with me so I tried one of them, then another one till I tried the fourth key which opened the gate. This one one of those gates that had jam lock, so you could only open it with it’s key.

I said a prayer and then I told myself to prepare for the worst or hope for the best. I was about to do something. It seemed like a stupid idea at the time but my life depended on it. I lay on the ground and started yelling, “help, help. Oh someone please help me.” Suddenly all the kidnappers rushed though the door and into my cell. In what can best be described as a flash or speed of lightening, I hopped up as fast as my tiny legs could take me and ran out of the cell as fast as I could then I shut the gate behind me. I heard the click sound indicating that the gate was locked. That was the best sound I ever heard in my life. All four abductors were locked in the cell.

“Open this gate or else I’ll kill you with my bare hands” one of them muttered. I smiled in response as I wobbled out of the house. I heard them arguing, cursing and screaming behind me.
I walked to the car and saw a mobile phone. I picked it up and tried to call the police but the phone beeped twice and went off. It was out of battery. I was in a dilemma.

As I walked towards the gate, I prayed that by some stroke of fate, the gate would be open but it wasn’t. I struggled with shaky hands as I tried key after key to get the padlock open. There were a lot of keys to try and I was scared that the one for the gate might not be in the bunch.
Just as I was about to give up, I heard my favorite sound again, click!!! And the padlock snapped open. I ran out of the house as fast as my legs could take me. It was dark outside the house. There was bush all around but I could see light from a distance.

I knocked on the gate of the first house that I saw but the guard would not hear me out. He said I was telling a lie.
The guard at the second house was kind. He let me in, then he informed his bosses about my presence. The kind couple listened to my story and then gave me a phone to call my parents.

I was asked to take them back to the house where my abductors were. It was the longest and scariest walk I’ve ever taken. As we walked down the dark part of the street, I heard the man talking to the police. When they arrived, they were startled to see the kidnappers locked up inside a cell.

The police let me spend the night with the nice couple while my parents took the two hour drive to meet me there. It was a long night for all of us. And I had to be at the police station in the morning.

It turned out that the kidnappers were master criminals and had been on the run for 3 years. There was a cash reward for anyone that had information about them and yours truly became the lucky recipient. I had suddenly become a hero.

This wasn’t a pleasant experience but it ended well for me. I look back with gratitude because I know that it could have been worse.