When we think of hostage situations, most
people think of fast and furious negotiations. We’ve all seen the news footage of bank
robberies gone wrong, with heroic police negotiators making a deal with the captors while the hostages
cower on the ground. If you’re a fan of military dramas, you’ve
probably seen a few heroic operations as Navy SEALS drop in to liberate Americans held abroad. But for many people kidnapped for ransom abroad,
the reality of being a hostage is much slower and uncertain. For journalists Nigel Brennan and Amanda Lindhout,
a journey into Somali territory turned into a fifteen-month ordeal at the hands of modern-day
pirates. The Somali coast is considered one of the
most dangerous places on the planet, due to the loose government structure in the country
and its struggling economy. The mostly agrarian economy has left the country
one of Africa’s poorest, and many young citizens have little choice but to turn to
crime to survive. The waters off Somalia’s eastern coast are
a common shipping route for smaller vessels, and that makes the route a haven for pirates
seeking to capture cargo - or hostages. The most famous Somali pirate attack was the
seizing of the merchant ship of Captain Richard Phillips, dramatized in the film Captain Phillips. But most operations by pirates are on a smaller
scale, and that makes covering the area highly dangerous for journalists. In 2008, Nigel Brennan was a 36-year-old photojournalist
from Australia covering conflict zones around the world. He traveled to Mogadishu with Canadian freelance
journalist Amanda Lindhout to interview people at the country’s IDP, or internally displaced
person camps. Only three days after arrival, their car was
stopped by gunmen and they were captured. Other, more famous journalists in the area
had beefed up their security due to increased pirate activity, so the pirates from the Hizbul
Islam paramilitary group turned their sights to the new visitors. Brennan and Lindhout were about to become
two of the world’s most famous journalists, but for the last reason they would want. Brennan and Lindhout were taken along with
their Somali translator Adbifatah Mohammed Elmi, their driver, and a driver from a nearby
hotel and blindfolded. Their teenage captors began driving them around
the city to various locations, keeping them from getting their bearings. There was no initial announcement of their
capture, and their friends, family, and employers back home were left to slowly realize that
their trip to Somalia had gone very wrong. The captives were eventually taken to a run-down
house where they were separated and kept in small rooms, mostly in the dark. The Australian government contacted Somali
authorities and a manhunt began, but came up empty. At first a spokesman for the pirates denied
any involvement with the kidnapping, claiming a fringe sect was behind it. Reporters Without Borders was able to get
confirmation that the reporters were alive and unharmed, but the kidnappers had not made
any demands. It wasn’t until over two weeks after the
kidnapping that the pirates were heard from, speaking through a third-party liaison. They demanded three million Australian dollars
for the captives’ release, and allowed Brennan and Lindhout to speak briefly. Brennan was forced to issue a statement claiming
“We are very well now mentally and physically”. While Elmi and the two drivers were released
several months into their captivity after negotiation with tribal chiefs, the families
of Brennan and Lindhout had little hope of raising the money on their own. The Australian and Canadian government have
a policy of not paying ransoms or negotiating with kidnappers, so the two captives were
on their own as the months of isolation wore on. Brennan was kept separately from Lindhout
and both were treated roughly by their captors. Beatings were frequent, food was scarce, and
Brennan knew that death could come at any time if the pirates believed no money was
coming. They converted to Islam hoping to ingratiate
themselves to their captors, but the kidnappers were only interested in them for the potential
payoff. Losing faith that he would be released or
that his country would be coming to his aid, Brennan began to hatch a plan to escape. He was able to briefly communicate with Lindhout
when their captors weren’t watching, by leaving tiny notes in the small bathroom they
were allowed access to. When he developed dysentery, Nigel knew his
time was running out. Living in the squalid conditions was wearing
his body down, and escaping would become harder as he grew weaker. The pirates took Amanda to the desert and
let her call her mother. What seemed like a kindness turned out to
be anything but, as they reduced the ransom to a million dollars but added a new condition
- if it wasn’t paid in a week, she would be killed. They both knew the time to escape was now. Nigel had been examining the bricks in his
room and the bars on the wall for weeks, and knew every inch of the place. The weak point was in the bathroom, in the
slightly loose bars of the window. Nigel and Amanda waited for an opportunity,
snuck off to the bathroom at the same time when their captors weren’t watching, and
worked together to loosen the bars until they were far enough apart. They carefully squeezed out the window, helped
by the weight they had lost in their long captivity, and snuck out. It was a twelve foot drop to the ground, but
they landed safely. Freedom was within sight. Out of captivity for the first time in months,
Nigel and Amanda ran. They spoke some basic Somali, enough to shout
“Help me, I am Muslim!”. They asked people on the street for help,
but everyone turned away. The people in the streets of Mogadishu knew
to fear the kidnappers and refused to intervene. Brennan knew the one place they might find
help was in a local Mosque, where they would be seen as fellow muslims and find sanctuary. Their escape had been discovered, and their
captors were hot on their trail wielding an AK-47. Nigel burst through the doors, yelling for
safety, and the congregation of worshippers froze in fear. The one woman present embraced Amanda, and
a worshipper handed Nigel a gun. Nigel stood, frozen in terror as their captors
burst through the door. The pirates demanded their captives back. Nigel stood, trying to bring himself to fire,
but he was a journalist and not a soldier. He couldn’t kill anyone and surrendered
his gun. The pirates threatened the mosque unless they
were allowed to leave with their hostages, but some of the worshippers wanted to defend
them. The mosque is a sacred place, and although
they were scared, they were ready to defend their Muslim guests. They said an Imam should be called to determine
Nigel and Amanda’s fate. The pirates were not willing to wait, and
roughly fended the worshippers off with threats of firing. They grabbed Nigel and Amanda and dragged
them back to captivity. Nigel and Amanda’s Somali nightmare was
about to get much worse. Nigel and Amanda were brutally beaten in public
by their captors, as an example to anyone who would help them escape again. Blindfolded again, they were taken to a new
safe house, chained in separate rooms, and kept in total darkness. Their new rooms were like coffins, only three
feet by seven. Nigel was forced to compete with large and
aggressive rats for the little food they were given. Their captors went silent - Nigel and Amanda
were no longer allowed to make calls to encourage their families to pay the ransom. Nigel began to sink into despair, sure that
death was around the corner. But behind the scenes, their families were
working to find them. Nigel and Amanda’s families had been stonewalled
by the government, who had come up empty in their search. Neither government was willing to pay the
ransom, so the families hired private security firms who specialized in hostage negotiations. Although the families didn’t get along and
both blamed the other for their loved one getting kidnapped, they put their differences
aside for a mutual goal. Nigel’s sister, desperate to attain her
brother’s release, flew to Somalia to transfer money to a third party who knew the kidnappers. This was illegal and risked arrest, as well
as putting her at risk of kidnapping herself. The families, with the help of rich private
backers in both Australia and Canada, were able to raise over $500,000 for the release
of the captives. The kidnappers, sensing a payoff could be
close, loosened security on the captives and allowed them to make phone calls. This opened Nigel to another danger - being
betrayed by his fellow captive. As their possible release got closer, both
got paranoid, and a desperate Amanda used her phone call to beg her mother to use the
money to get her release even if Nigel would be left behind. Because the bank account is held in Nigel’s
native Australia, this attempt failed and the release of the two hostages remained a
package deal. With hope of the full ransom being raised
dwindling, the pirates decide to take what they could get. After almost 460 days as hostages, Nigel and
Amanda’s release was close at hand. On November 25th, 2009, Amanda and Nigel are
dragged out of their cells and taken into a van. They’re driven to the side of the road where
they’re handed off to a third party. But they’re not taken to another safe house. Instead they’re driven to Somalia’s most
secure hotel where they go from the depths of squalor to the lap of luxury. They barely have time to process what’s
happening before they’re taken to their plane the next morning and flown out of Somalia
to Kenya, where they would be reunited with their families. Their hostage ordeal is over, but both will
be recovering from their captivity for a long time. The secret behind the ransom wouldn’t be
revealed for some time. Both Nigel and Amanda’s families were cash-poor
and had no hope of raising the exorbitant payment, but powerful private citizens in
both countries worked together to bring their citizens home. Australian parliamentary leader Bob Brown
and businessman Dick Smith, both active in Australian charity work, kicked in for Nigel’s
ransom. Calgary businessman Allan Markin was key in
attaining Amanda’s release. Although Nigel and Amanda were partners in
captivity and in their daring escape attempt, the time as hostages had taken its toll on
them and wore down their trust in each other. After being released, they went their separate
ways and have not spoken since their ordeal. Nigel returned to Australia, where he recovered
from his fifteen months in captivity and parlayed his ordeal into a new career as an author. He co-wrote a memoir, “The Price of Life:
A True Story of Kidnap and Ransom”, with his sister Nicky and sister-in-law Kellie,
who were instrumental in campaigning for his release. His story was adapted into an episode of the
TV series “Locked Up Abroad”, where he was portrayed by Tom Oakley. Nigel stayed close to home for several years,
but made his triumphant return to the water when he participated in the Clipper Round
the World Yacht Race in 2013. He spoke about the toll his ordeal had on
him, and how traveling the world again was a big step in his recovery. While Nigel and Amanda were free, with Amanda
going on to an acclaimed career as a motivational speaker, the masterminds behind their ordeal
were still on the loose and the governments wanted to make sure this wasn’t repeated. Canadian police staged an elaborate undercover
operation to lure one of the captors out of hiding. Al Omar Ader, one of the kidnappers and hostage
negotiators, took the bait and visited Canada for what he thought was an opportunity but
was actually a sting. He faced Canadian justice and was sentenced
to fifteen years in prison for the kidnapping of Nigel and Amanda. The other kidnappers remain at large in Somalia,
and authorities have no leads. Nigel Brennan and Amanda Lindhout survived
an ordeal that would break many people. The average length of a kidnapping by Somali
pirates is less than ninety days. They survived five times that, including beatings,
starvation, disease, and a failed escape attempt that nearly led to their murder. Now that you’ve gotten through this video,
why not let us keep you hostage with another great vid? Go ahead and click on this video here, or
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