Comedian Odey Mathias, popularly known as General Odey, has shared how he spent 50 days in the custody of kidnappers, enduring torture while his family struggled to raise a ransom of eight million naira for his release.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Morning Brief on Thursday, Odey described the experience as terrifying. “It was a very horrible experience and an unimaginable one that I won’t really wish my enemy to be part of,” he said.
The comedian said he was abducted on April 18, 2025, along with 23 other passengers while traveling to Calabar through the Oron/Uyo waterways.
He explained that their boat was attacked by gunmen who fired multiple shots before forcing them into a larger boat. “For about 40 minutes, they drove us to a location we didn’t know,” he recalled.
Odey said he was held longer than others because of the military-style uniform he wore. During his time in captivity, he and others were beaten, starved, and banned from looking at their captors’ faces. “If you looked at them, they hit you,” he said.
He described the location as a creek-like settlement. “It was like a community. They played loud music, shot guns in the air, and even took us to areas where the network was strong enough to make calls for ransom. I wasn’t allowed to contact my family as often as others did,” he explained.
According to Odey, his family worked with security operatives to trace his location, which angered the kidnappers. They demanded more money after the first payment of over three million naira.
“I wasn’t allowed to contact my family; I only spoke to my wife twice, once a week into the kidnapping and on the day I was to be released. When I came out, I discovered they had collected over three million first. But when that was paid, they refused to release me and demanded more. In total, my family paid up to eight million naira,” he said.
