Comedian General Odey has recounted spending nearly 50 days in kidnappers’ custody this year.
He described the experience as horrible, recalling beatings, starvation, and ransom demands before regaining freedom.
Popular comedian Odey Mathias, widely known as General Odey, has shared details of his abduction experience where he spent close to 50 days in the custody of kidnappers.
Appearing on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, Odey described the experience as “horrible and unimaginable,” stressing that he would never wish such an ordeal even on his worst enemy.
The entertainer was kidnapped on April 18, 2025, alongside 23 others while traveling to Calabar through the Oron/Uyo waterways. He recounted how the kidnappers attacked, firing gunshots and ramming their boat into his before transferring the passengers into another vessel. They were then moved for about 40 minutes to an undisclosed location.
While most hostages were freed earlier, Odey’s captivity lasted longer, which he believes was due to the military-style outfit he had on at the time. “We were beaten, starved, and warned never to look at their faces. Anytime we tried, they hit us,” he said.
He recalled that they were kept in a creek-like community where the kidnappers lived openly with their families. Loud music, random gunshots, and controlled access to areas with phone signals for ransom calls characterized their daily lives. Unlike others, Odey was rarely permitted to speak to his family. “I only spoke to my wife twice, one week after the abduction and on the day I was released,” he recounted.
According to him, his family worked closely with security agencies throughout the ordeal. After an initial ransom payment of over ₦3 million, the kidnappers demanded more, eventually raising the total to about ₦8 million before he regained his freedom.
