Freed OFWS recall anguish at hands of brutal captors

Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) working navigation boat drivers who were kidnapped by bandits off the coast of Nigeria last week arrived back home yesterday afternoon still emotionally shaken and beside themselves with relief after surviving their five-day ordeal at the hands of their captors.

Joseph Doctolero, 37, and Pacifico Gajo, 36, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)Terminal I via Emirates flight EK 332 from Nigeria at 4:45 p.m.

The two OFWs were released last Sunday morning after ransom was paid presumably by their employer, the Petroleum Geo-Services company, said to be a Norweigian oil services firm.

The two were met at the airport by Mariano Dumia, executive officer in the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs.

In a press conference held at the NAIA Terminal I VIP Lounge, the two shared that they suffered mental and physical anguish at the hands of their captors, whom they described as armed and violent.

Gajo, in an opening statement to the media, could not prevent his voice from cracking as he expressed thanks to the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria, the Department of Foreign Affairs, their employer and all those who prayed for their survival and eventual release.

A more in control Doctolero recounted that they suffered blows from guns and had knives being pointed at their throat while receiving verbal abuse from their captors during the five days.

He and Gajo believed that they would be killed during the early part of their captivity after their captors told them their heads would bet cut off and offered to their gods.

Doctolero said that they felt a glimmer of hope when they sensed that their abductors began negotiating for ransom for their release.

"Nagkaroon kami ng pag-asa nung marinig naming na nanghihingi na nga pera yung mga kidnappers namin," Doctolero told reporters.

He said he and Gajo were on board a navigation boat and were about to drive to their mother vessel when a boat with seven men on board suddenly sidled up to theirs. The bandits forcibly shoved them into their own boat.

"Pinagpapalo nila kami ng mga baril sa batok at likod. Pinagtatadyakan nila kami," Doctolero said.

After a one and a half hour boat ride, he said they stopped on a shore leading to a forest where they were taken to a small hut.

During the five days, both were made to walk to three different villages and were kept in small huts in an apparent bid by their captors to avoid being located by the authorities.

He said that they were only made to eat three times during the five days they were abducted.

According to Doctolero, their abductors took both their cellular phones, wallets and jewelry.

Asked if they still have plans to work abroad, Gajo said he just wants to rest for now and try to forget his traumatic experience in Nigeria.

"Hindi ko pa masasagot yan sa ngayon. Ayaw ko munang isipin yan ngayon," he said.

Doctolero, on the other hand, said he could still seek employment abroad, but not in Nigeria.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, for its part, assured them they would be extending assistance in the coming days, including psychological counseling.

Dumia, for his part, said that the DFA did not have any plans of banning the deployment of OFWs in Nigeria since they believe kidnap-for-ransom and other activities are limited to some parts of Nigeria such as the South Niger Delta where Gajo and Doctolero were abducted by the bandits.

"Its generally safe in Nigeria," he said.