Tears, Blood and Survival
My name is Chinedu David Felix, I was born in Nigeria on the 8th of July 1989. I am Igbo and a Christian. I have 3 siblings and my parents are petty traders. After I graduated from Madonna University, Okija, Anambra state, I had to attend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) which is a mandatory year of service created by the Nigerian government. Few months after my service, I was heading home in Aba, Abia state when I was grabbed. I tried to resist but I realized it was about three men who hit me as they pushed me into a vehicle.
I couldn't even ask why because the replies I got was extra beating. I was in their custody for two weeks and I became extra sensitive to light because I was always blindfolded. I had begun to give up on being released because I thought they kidnapped me to steal my organs and sell them ritualist which is a common thing in Nigeria, then one night I got extra beating that I almost passed out I thought I was going to die then they put me in a vehicle and dropped me in a place that I later realized was not too far from my home.
In the days that ensued as I recovered, I gathered that my family was threatened to pay a ransom and my parents reported to the police but they didn't help, because they asked them to pay extra money just to investigate the kidnapping. My family could barely afford to pay the kidnappers and had no money for the police too since it was not even guaranteed that paying the police will ensure my release. My parents spent the weeks I was held, gathering the little money they had and begging family members and friends for help and still could not gather the complete money.
My family paid part of the ransom because they could not raise the full money within the deadline given by the kidnappers. Then I and my family started getting death threats because they were expecting the rest of the payment and made it clear that they could get to me at any time.
For months, the death threats kept coming in and my family had to relocate especially for my safety. Six days after we relocated, I still received another death threat and it was then that I realized that my life was at risk and a relative could be behind the attacks because it was only close family members who knew where we moved and the relative keeps planning this attacks and the only possible reason I was targeted is because I am the bright and industrious child in my family and if I am gone, my family is too and they will suffer. I couldn't keep looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.
I started planning to leave the country after the kidnapping and constant death threats. I left the country through a student visa. I didn't experience too much difficulty when I was trying to leave but it was not easy raising the money I needed since we were plunged into poverty. I chose Australia because it is one of the safest countries in the world and an excellent place to continue my education.
Being in Australia, it felt like I could breathe without being afraid every second and I excelled in this newfound secure environment. Although I'm a bright student, it is was a bit hard to concentrate on my studies as a result of the trauma, and apart from the fact that there is no money, I always think about my family who can still be targeted in my absence and returning home is still a risk for me. I want to face my studies and lift my family from poverty without worrying that it is for nothing because I can be killed any minute.
I have been surviving and running my life. I want to live in safety and experience happiness without wondering when it will end with my lifeless body presented to my family if they are even alive to identify it.
I couldn't even ask why because the replies I got was extra beating. I was in their custody for two weeks and I became extra sensitive to light because I was always blindfolded. I had begun to give up on being released because I thought they kidnapped me to steal my organs and sell them ritualist which is a common thing in Nigeria, then one night I got extra beating that I almost passed out I thought I was going to die then they put me in a vehicle and dropped me in a place that I later realized was not too far from my home.
In the days that ensued as I recovered, I gathered that my family was threatened to pay a ransom and my parents reported to the police but they didn't help, because they asked them to pay extra money just to investigate the kidnapping. My family could barely afford to pay the kidnappers and had no money for the police too since it was not even guaranteed that paying the police will ensure my release. My parents spent the weeks I was held, gathering the little money they had and begging family members and friends for help and still could not gather the complete money.
My family paid part of the ransom because they could not raise the full money within the deadline given by the kidnappers. Then I and my family started getting death threats because they were expecting the rest of the payment and made it clear that they could get to me at any time.
For months, the death threats kept coming in and my family had to relocate especially for my safety. Six days after we relocated, I still received another death threat and it was then that I realized that my life was at risk and a relative could be behind the attacks because it was only close family members who knew where we moved and the relative keeps planning this attacks and the only possible reason I was targeted is because I am the bright and industrious child in my family and if I am gone, my family is too and they will suffer. I couldn't keep looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.
I started planning to leave the country after the kidnapping and constant death threats. I left the country through a student visa. I didn't experience too much difficulty when I was trying to leave but it was not easy raising the money I needed since we were plunged into poverty. I chose Australia because it is one of the safest countries in the world and an excellent place to continue my education.
Being in Australia, it felt like I could breathe without being afraid every second and I excelled in this newfound secure environment. Although I'm a bright student, it is was a bit hard to concentrate on my studies as a result of the trauma, and apart from the fact that there is no money, I always think about my family who can still be targeted in my absence and returning home is still a risk for me. I want to face my studies and lift my family from poverty without worrying that it is for nothing because I can be killed any minute.
I have been surviving and running my life. I want to live in safety and experience happiness without wondering when it will end with my lifeless body presented to my family if they are even alive to identify it.
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