NIGERIAN comedian, Odey Mathias, popularly known as General Odey, has narrated his horrifying experience in the hands of kidnappers who held him captive for 50 days before his eventual release after an ₦8 million ransom was paid.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Thursday monitored by News Point Nigeria, Odey described his ordeal as “horrible and unimaginable,” adding that it was an experience he would not wish even on his worst enemy.
According to Odey, he was kidnapped on April 18, 2025, alongside 23 others, while traveling to Calabar through the Oron/Uyo waterways.
The comedian recounted that the kidnappers opened fire, forcing their boat to halt before a larger vessel rammed into theirs. They were then transferred into the kidnappers’ boat and ferried for about 40 minutes to an unknown location.
Odey explained that he was subjected to intense beatings, starvation, and psychological torture, noting that the kidnappers forbade victims from looking directly at their faces.
“They drilled us, beat us, and starved us. If you mistakenly looked at their faces, you would be hit immediately,” he recalled.
He described the kidnappers’ base as resembling a creek settlement where families lived, with loud music blaring, gunshots fired in the air, and victims often moved to areas with strong mobile networks to facilitate ransom calls.
“It was like a community. They played loud music, shot guns in the air, and took us to spots where the network was strong enough for them to call our families. But unlike others, I was not allowed to speak to my family as often,” he said.
Odey said he only managed to speak to his wife twice, a week into his abduction and again on the day of his release.
While other hostages were released earlier, Odey spent nearly two months in captivity. He suspects his prolonged detention was linked to the military uniform he wore at the time of his abduction.
“I believe they kept me longer because of the military general uniform I wore. They thought I was someone important,” he explained.
Odey revealed that his family was in close contact with a security agency during the ordeal, which made the kidnappers suspicious and led them to demand additional payments.
“When I came out, I learned that they had already collected some money. The first installment was over ₦3 million, but they didn’t release me. They demanded more, and my family had to raise additional funds. Altogether, about ₦8 million was paid before I was finally freed,” he said.
Odey’s ordeal adds to the growing list of victims of Nigeria’s escalating kidnapping-for-ransom crisis, particularly along waterways and rural areas.
Despite government assurances of tackling insecurity, waterways in the Niger Delta, South-South, and some northern regions remain highly vulnerable to abductions.