NIGERIAN comedian Odey Mathias, popularly known as General Odey, has shared harrowing details of his 50-day ordeal in the custody of kidnappers who eventually collected a ransom of ₦8 million before releasing him.
Speaking to newsmen today, Mathias described the experience as “horrible and unimaginable,” saying it was something he would never wish on even his enemies.
He recounted that he was abducted on April 18, 2025, along with 23 others while traveling through the Oron/Uyo waterways to Calabar.
According to him, their boat was intercepted after kidnappers fired gunshots and rammed into them with a larger vessel, before transferring the passengers to another boat and taking them to an undisclosed location.
Mathias revealed that while most of the abductees spent less time in captivity, he was held longer—apparently because of the military uniform he wore.
During detention, he and others were subjected to beatings, starvation, and strict prohibitions against looking at the kidnappers’ faces.
He said the hideout resembled a community within the creeks, where kidnappers lived with their families, played loud music, and occasionally moved victims to areas with stronger network coverage to facilitate ransom negotiations.
Although he was only able to speak to his wife twice—once a week after his abduction and again on the day of his release—his family, working with security agencies, managed to negotiate his freedom.
He disclosed that the kidnappers initially collected over ₦3 million but demanded more before finally releasing him, bringing the total ransom paid to about ₦8 million.
“It was a terrible experience,” Mathias said, recalling the torture, fear, and uncertainty that defined his 50-day captivity.