Former staff at Shell and publisher of a community newspaper in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Folarin Banigbe was abducted from his home in May 2016. Unlike some others, he lives to tell the story in his memoir, ‘Abduction Chronicles’. He talks about the book and his experiences in captivity in this interview. Excerpts:
CAN you share the process of writing the book and how you felt when you completed it?
It is targeted at various audiences and one of the things I tried to do because of my background as a writer, is to appeal to every emotion. The kidnap experience is like a spiritual experience. Ultimately, that’s how I felt.
I will get to that. A lot of people don’t understand spirituality, so they’ll colour the story. And because I am coming from a background of ministry, a lot of people will say, ‘Oh it’s another pastor’s book’. I didn’t want them to think like that because I already had a problem with the way pastors’ doctrines are preached. I didn’t want people to go into that mode it as a man of God. Everybody is a child of God. So, I was careful to write it in the way that it doesn’t come out as a spiritual book. I was also careful to be sure that I captured all the experiences that were spiritual in a contemporary way.
So, if you read through it, the chances are that spirituality hits you. But, if you’re not spiritual, you will just read the story. When I got there the first and second day, I was always sitting down and praying, and I heard a voice saying you’re going to write a book about this. And I said what? That they kidnapped your son and he paid the ransom, how do you get glory from that? That was the first conversation I had with the Holy Spirit. So, I just dismissed it that I was never going to write a book about it.
But as I progressed in the experience, it became apparent why I was told to write a book because the rest of the circumstances showed that there was something I was meant to do in the kidnappers’ camp. And from the Christian perspective, I have always believed that sometimes you don’t know the reason you are where you spend a lot of time. Maybe I wouldn’t have been there for five days because the very first message that I got was to tell the ‘Kapo’ that he had a swelling on his body and that God wants to heal it. But, when I heard the voice, I turned it down because I was angry at that time.
The desperation mixed with anger. How can this happen to me? I serve God, which is the standard process. So, when I heard that, I turned it to a prayer point. But that’s the way an average Christian behaves. Anytime I finished praying, I just listened to a voice of the Holy Spirit laughing, and I will know I have done something wrong. It was on the third day I asked what exactly God wants out of this. And that was when the rest of the revelation started to come up.
So, when I remembered I had to write a book, I then realised that what God wanted was to use my experience to teach that the way men think about God and the answers we want is not the way He sees it. At first, I was sure that I’d not pay the ransom and I thought God will do something but was I scared the night He told me why I was there.
However, when I was paying the ransom, I was silently telling God, ‘you know I worked hard for this money, it was my sweat.’ The Holy Spirit said, ‘Okay if I don’t let you pay the money, what are you going do with it? I said, you know I want to give it to the church for the land. But, before the evening of that day, I was released, and the rest of the revelation came through. I was kidnapped in May, and I didn’t start to write the book until September because I forgot. I thought I could not write it, but I kept being reminded. One day, I said, ‘okay, I will start’. I have come to realise why God wanted me to write the book because anytime I talked about the event, it touches people. I wrote the book within three months of relocating to Abuja.
How did you feel after writing the book?
I was relieved before I wrote the book because when I came out of the kidnappers’ den, I studied trauma. I realised that one of the reasons people continue to be traumatised is because they cannot find closure to the event. For me, before I left, I had found closure. I knew what I was going to do at that point. In my mind, I was going back to my house, and I was rehearsing how everybody would be jumping when I got home.
How is the book faring in the market?
People say if you sell 1000 books in Nigeria, you are the best seller. One thousand books in a country of how many million people? So, when we were printing, it took us time, but the book came out in May 2018, and it was already in my office in Lagos as of March-end. I started writing the book in September, finished it by November. So, all of the processes were a couple of months. If people are finding it challenging to publish, let me set up an independent publishing firm. When I began, I will start to distribute.
A bookseller said he had to read the book first before he could stock it in his book shop. The reading will take six months. I was shocked. Six months to read how many pages? Unfortunately, I found that putting your book in a bookshop requires no advertising or payment. It’s a place somebody can walk in and buy the book. So, I said, ‘Okay if this is what people go through no wonder they are not selling up to 1000 copies’. But by effort, we have sold over 2000 copies.
If people are finding it challenging to publish, let me set up an independent publishing firm. When I begin, I will start to distribute.
Some people wonder why you didn’t mention asked how much you paid as ransom.
People asked why I didn’t mention how much I paid. Did that matter? What difference does that make? First, when I was kidnapped, they took me to a waterside. On a regular day, there will be six to seven checkpoints at that time of the night. The car didn’t stop. When I was coming back, there were four checkpoints. The moment I got to a safe place, some good Samaritans helped me with a phone to put a call across to my home.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buy and read digital replicas of your TRIBUNE titles by subscribing through E-VENDING
COVID-19: Dokpesi, Daughter-In-Law, Six Other Family Members Test Positive
The founder of DAAR Communications Plc, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and his daughter-in-law along with six members of his family have tested positive for coronavirus. This is coming three days after his son and Chairman of the board of the company, Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, also tested positive for the virus… Read full story
Kano And The Mad Woman Of Omu-Ijelu
Not long ago, the funny character, who presides over the affairs of Kano State as the governor, Umar Ganduje, raised the alarm that the Federal Government had literarily abandoned the state in its quest to combat the rampaging Coronavirus epidemic… Read full story
Lagos Discharges Polish, Filipino, 24 Nigerians After Testing Negative For Coronavirus
Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday announced that 26 more patients have been discharged from isolation centres in the state having tested negative twice consecutively to coronavirus. He said those discharged included 14 males and 12 females, including two foreign nationals – a Polish and a Filipino… Read full story
WHO To Identify Animal Source Of COVID-19 ― Director-General
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General, World Health Organisation (WHO), said the agency will work with relevant organisations to identify the animal source of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) based on Emergency Committee recommendations… Read full story
COVID-19: Workers Won’t Be Retrenched Without Following Due Process, Says Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has told workers that despite the expected downturn in the nation’s economy owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government will ensure that workers won’t be retrenched without due process. Seeking to allay the fears of workers for their jobs, which has heightened recently… Read full story
COVID-19: Osun Monarchs Want Govt To Explore Herbal Medicine
SOME traditional rulers in Osun State have charged their subjects to abide by all the precautionary measures announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), Federal Government and health experts in the state so as to stay safe against the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic in the country… Read full story
Nigeria COVID-19 Survivor: ‘An Experience I Don’t Wish On Anyone’
It feels great to have survived COVID-19. If you see the data of people who have passed away due to the virus, they are alarming. I’m really grateful to be alive but also grateful for the experience as I am able to share with people that COVID-19 is not a hoax like many people may believe in Nigeria… Read full story
Our Fears Living Close To Isolation Centres —Residents •Why we can’t relocate you —Govt
Lagos, which has the highest number of patients with COVID-19 infection, understandably has the highest number of isolation centres, topping four as of the last count. While two have been in use and frequently in news, two new ones located at Landmark Exhibition Centre in Victoria Island and Gbagada Hospital are… Read full story
Loss Of Smell May Suggest Milder COVID-19, Study Finds
New research suggests that loss of smell as a symptom of COVID-19 may indicate a mild case of the disease. A new study has found that loss of smell, which is a reported symptom of COVID-19, may indicate that a person will experience a milder case of the disease… Read full story
Covid19- And The Rising Global Challenge
It would not be an exaggeration to aver that Covid 19 has endangered human race globally in such a manner that is novel. Death tolls in countries like China, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Iran and others are rattling and quaking the whole world and make many to be having the fear that the globe is on the… Read full story
and then