I feared for my husband’s life —Muma Gee

When you received the news of your husband’s kidnap, did you think it was a prank?

I never thought it was a joke. I spoke with him at about 2 pm that Saturday because he wanted me to represent him at a wedding ceremony in Port Harcourt and he was supposed to meet me there. When I got there and noticed the wedding had not started, I tried to call him to find out why he hurried me up but he was unreachable. I thought it was network failure on my phone and asked his colleague to try but it did not go through. It was unusual for him to switch off his phone. I faked a smile all through the ceremony but I was not happy within me. On Sunday, I got set to go to church and prayed for God to take control of the situation. He had still not returned by Sunday evening when I called his elder brother, who in turn called his other sibling.One of them said he spoke with him on his way back to Port Harcourt from Owerri on Saturday. By Monday evening, I was on my way back from the church and upon arriving at my gate, my phone rang and I saw it was one of his phone numbers. I had already decided within me not to get angry or shout when I picked the call. Immediately I picked the call, I quietly asked him where he

had been, he said he was kidnapped. I asked where he was and he said he did not know. At that moment, I heard a slap on his face. One of the kidnappers picked up the phone and rained abuses on me for asking where he was. He said if I did not raise N15m by Thursday, that he would be killed and buried. I tried to plead with them but they switched off the phone.

How did you cope throughout the ordeal?

It was a tense and stressful period for me but I asked God for the grace to pull through. I always shuttled between the house and church. At that point, the only person I had full confidence in was God. Even when I woke up in the morning, I always thanked God for releasing my husband instead of crying. Although I still broke down and cried sometimes, I imagined his return and I was grateful to God for it. I positioned his pictures at strategic positions in our home and always prayed with it, alongside my children. At a point, I went on Facebook to show my appreciation to people who empathised with me yet some fans blasted me for coming online (Facebook), while my husband was being held hostage. All I did at that point was pray that they do not experience what I went through. I chose to be positive.

What were you most afraid of when he was being held?

I was most afraid of the kidnappers’ mind-set. I knew he would be released, but I did not know how it would happen. I was also trying to imagine how to raise N15m; some people had already been kidnapped in Rivers State at that time and some were killed after a ransom had been paid. My prayer was for God to change their mind-set. At some point, I broke down and they asked me to give them all the money I could gather. God asked us to give him praise in all things, that was all I did and he delivered my husband.

Did your friends desert you or stand by you?

I do not keep friends. But, my pastor and his wife really stood by me and the whole congregation also prayed along with me as well. My pastor’s wife spoke with the kidnappers at some point and she told them she had been kidnapped before and she was ready to lead them to God. The church supported us financially, including my husband’s brothers.

If you had succeeded in the past election, what would you have done differently to engage the youth positively?

I did not lose the election because none was conducted in my area at the time I contested. Even though I did not make it into the Federal House of Representatives, I still think that I have a responsibility to raise
my voice for the young men who think they are at their wits end. My husband and I have a platform called Liberation for Good Governance. We
recently held a sensitisation carnival and we would kick off other activities from January 22. We want to discourage the youth from being bought and educate them about their rights as citizens. My husband mentioned some of the kidnappers said they were abandoned after the government promised to empower them.