SEPANG: After spending 19 days in captivity in Nigeria, kidnapped hostage George Lipih Anak Ambo is finally back in the arms of his family.
The 42-year-old looked tired when he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Saturday afternoon, but his face lit up when he saw his wife Bibi Suntek and their three children run towards him in the arrival hall.
They hugged and wept.
"Thank God, thank you all to those who prayed for me," he later told reporters here after a quick birthday celebration complete with a cake his family had brought.
George's 42nd birthday fell on Aug 13 while he was still in captivity.
George, together with his three other colleagues, were abducted on Aug 4 by Nigerian pirates who climbed aboard their oil servicing vessel Jascon 33 belonging to their employer Sea Trucks Group in the Gulf of Guinea.
Recounting the experience of seeing two Nigerian vessel guards killed in the shootout the pirates, George said he feared for his life every day in captivity.
“They held a gun to my head almost the whole of my waking hours. There was no physical torture, they didn't hit me or anything, but it was mental torture,” he said.
He was also reminded of the time the head of the pirate group lost his temper during the negotiations and threatened to kill all of them.
“They got angry very easily,” he said, adding that it was an otherwise an emotional roller coaster ride with the pirates who were on drugs and alcohol most of the time.
In their drunken stupor, the pirates, no older than 28 years old, nearly shot George, with the bullet passing through the wall just a foot away from him.
George and his fellow hostages were finally released early Thursday morning (Malaysian time) after successful negotiations with the pirates.
The details about the ransom paid were, however, not disclosed to the media. - The Star