Kidnapping Oyibos

The plan was very simple: Kidnap a pair of foreign nationals working in the country. Then next, you try to negotiate a fat lump sum of money from the friends and well-wishers of the kidnapped for their safety. Of course, there is always the implied threat that if the countries or the multinational corporations that employed these foreign nationals fail to cough up the ransom money, the kidnapped would be executed.

But you need to treat your captives humanely, don’t you? You need to make sure they are not being tortured or under heavy duress, because doing so would raise the profile of a simple and ordinary grab-and-swap to something of a grave international public relations fiasco. And then Nigeria would have to send in seriously armed men to finish you and your crew. You need to keep your operation small, tactical and efficient. Don’t kidnap too many people at once. Don’t over-negotiate. Don’t invite public scrutiny and above all, try to make sure it involves as little blood-letting as possible (after all, you are a business man not a barbarian, right?)

Well, that’s what AY and Mike, two cash-strapped and desperate novice kidnappers, thought when they kidnapped these two foreign expatriates living and operating in Nigeria for a while and decided to collect a fat ransom on their heads. See how it turns out.