WEBVTT - How Nigel Brennan Survived 15 Months in Captivity – Part 1 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.400 We'd like to acknowledge that traditional custodians of the land 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:06.840 on which this podcast was produced, the Galliger people of 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.440 the Orination. We pay our respects to Elder's past and present. 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:15.400 This episode contains discussions of sexual assault. If this raises 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:18.520 any issues for you, support is available through the links 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.320 and phone numbers in the show notes. 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:24.720 Today we're in Somalia. It's two thousand and eight, and 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.800 after the country's brutal long time dictator was overthrown seventeen 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:33.400 years ago, a bloody civil war has raged on, with 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.840 so many groups vying for control, the emergence of extremist 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:41.599 groups like Auschebab, and a surge in piracy. It's a 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:46.559 very dangerous place to be, but for photojournalist Nigel Brennan 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.680 is exactly where he feels he needs to be. He's 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:55.960 here to show the world the unfolding humanitarian crisis. The 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.040 plan is to stay for seven days, but on the 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:04.600 fourth day plan changes dramatically. Nigel and his colleague and 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.479 Mandolinhaut are dragged out of their vehicle at gunpoint by 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:12.280 masked men who plan to keep them hostage. There are 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.760 only two ways out of this. Either a three million 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:18.920 dollar ransom from a government whose policy is not to 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.800 pay or escape from a lockdown house guarded by masked 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.920 men clutching AK forty seven's in the middle of one 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:32.480 of the world's most dangerous countries. I'm Att Middleton. This 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:38.000 is head Game Today, the ultimate lesson in resilience, strength 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:44.720 and survival. Nigel Brennan, great to have you on my podcast. 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:49.120 Thanks for coming. Now, you're a photo journalist. What do 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:49.919 you do on a day. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.480 To day A fado journalist obviously someone that works in 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.880 the media. I sort of started out in regional newspapers 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.160 and then went into freelance. So I guess as a 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.160 freelance phato let's trying to cover stories that I thought 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:04.880 were important and wanted to, I guess share with the 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.640 wider world of what was going on in particularly in 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:08.760 countries overseas. 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.120 You turned this hobby into a career and then you 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:16.320 find yourself being called to go to Somalia. Take me 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:19.560 back to that day when someone, when whoever, your boss, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.600 whoever it was, said to you, right, you're going too smiley. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.239 How did you feel, what was the job role? And 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:27.360 did you take it straight away? 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.880 So I got a phone call from Amanda who at 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:35.639 that stage was working for Presstvay in Iran. So she said, look, 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:40.959 I'm thinking about doing a trip into Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.720 Would you be interested in coming along? And for me 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:51.360 it was I guess that that first thing for me 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:57.359 was like new Obviously Kenya and Ethiopia fell yourself. Somali 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.880 was a different kettle of fish. But I also had 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:02.880 that thing of like I'd wanted to go into war 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.440 zone or a conflict area, like a country that was 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:10.079 dangerous and photograph and tell stories. And I guess when 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:12.400 Aman sort of put that to me, it was just like, well, 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:13.600 am I going to do this? 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:15.320 Or am I just going to be a dramer? 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:18.240 And I thought, well, you feel like you had to 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:19.119 earn your stripes. 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.480 I've been trying to get into Afghanistan, and I think 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.720 as a freelancer was incredibly difficult to try and get 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:26.200 em bettered and those sorts of things. 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:31.280 And then probably it's probably safer to go into Afghanistan, 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.480 absolutely with the top cover that you'd have, yes, then 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.200 it would be to Somalia. Well I can tell you 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.640 that because I've been to both. But I mean hindsight, 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.160 hindsight is a great thing, but probably probably a lot 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.120 better going into Afghanistan because going into Somalia sort of 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.040 just as a freelancer, Oh, it takes some balls. 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:53.440 It does take some balls. 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.400 Look, I think in hindsight as well, you know, looking back, 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.040 and it was like probably a little bit grain, a 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.720 little bit naive, because I think at that stage Somali 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.320 was the third most dangerous country in the world. As 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.960 you said, like Afghanistan, you had US forces and UK 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.440 forces and you basically had people there that could help. 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:16.360 In Somalia it was there was no like you had 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.880 eight organizations, but there was absolutely no white or Western 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:24.960 personnel there. So it was an incredible risk to take, 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.599 you know. And the plan was a seven day sort 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.320 of jaunt in and out because we knew after seven 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:31.480 days it would be too risky. 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:35.040 Seven days in total without the three countries, or seven 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:35.920 days only for. 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.680 Smiling, seven days only for Somalia's. 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.239 Still quite long. Yeah, after twenty four to forty eight hours, 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:42.440 people start sniffing. 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:46.040 Around absolutely, And look, I guess as well, as a journalist, 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.760 you know, you work out who your fix is going 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.720 to be in country. And we had someone recommended who 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.000 was also working with National geographic journals that were in 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.560 the country at the same time, and we hired security. 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.000 We had an interpret to those sorts of things. Again, 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.920 probably not enough security, but as I said, as freelancers, 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.039 you know, that's all we could afford was a certain 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.320 amount of security. And there's also that ethical thing I 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.920 think for journalists too, like driving around in cars and 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.800 more torn eras, do you want to have weapons in 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.039 your vehicle? Like you know, you're meant to be neutral 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.680 and having a gun in your car is well, hang on, 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:24.960 you're not really neutral anymore, you're taking aside. 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.840 So so you start off where you start off in Kenya. 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:34.200 Start off in Kenya. So in n Airabi organized visas 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.720 to get into Sonario. So I actually have to forge document. 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:43.080 So my brother's best mate had a I guess it 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.040 was a publication in Brisbane magazine. So I basically ripped 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.760 his logo off and made a letter up and signed 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.640 it under Carl's name and gave that to the Somalian 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:57.920 embassy and got the visa and then went flew from 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.239 Nairobi into Moga Disher. I'm one of the dodgiest planes 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.480 I've ever been, Like, I'm surprised it actually took off 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:09.680 and landed. Oh yeah, I like seats sort of going 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.640 back and forwards, and the chickens and goats and it's 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.440 just like what is this. I think people might have 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:17.760 even been smoking on the plane, which you know, I 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.120 can remember sitting on the plane and there was an 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.240 Italian aid worker who was going through to Somali land 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:26.200 and he said, what are you two doing here? And 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.919 we're like, we're going to Mogadisha and he's like serious, 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:33.120 and so yeah, we're journalists and he's like okay. He said, 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.080 you know, your head's worth a million dollars that's not 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.359 attached to your body. And I think that's probably the 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.320 you know, I knew Mogadishu was going to be dangerous, 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:42.960 and I knew there was potential for kidnap, but I 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:45.640 never thought that I would end up being kidnapped in 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:49.080 a country. But I guess that's probably where, you know, 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.200 things start to pucker up a little bit and it's 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.080 just like, okay, this is you know, we're flying into 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.919 sort of I guess, alien territory. And it wasn't until 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:00.040 we started descend into Mogadishu and you're looking out the 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.760 window and you can see basically just whatever a decade's 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.600 worth of internal conflict and you know, buildings that were 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:11.440 just decimated, and Mogadishu, which they said was the Paris 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:16.280 of Africa, you know, getting to eventually landing at Mogadishu 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.160 Airport and getting off the plane and getting into the 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:23.160 carousel and just saying it was complete pandemonium and mayhem, 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:25.440 and you know there's security there that are beating people 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:29.120 with sticks to get them away from the luggage carousel. 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:30.240 And a bit of a reality check. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:30.920 Oh it was. 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.000 It was like I felt like a complete alien. It 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:34.720 was just like I should not be. 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.120 Here this this Oh as soon as you landed, you 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.040 thought it wasn't. 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.400 I just I felt completely out. 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.280 Of my comfort zone. What are you hoping to capture? 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.480 You know, why did you go there in the first place? 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:48.320 What was there? What was the task or what was 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:48.760 the mission? 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.560 I think for Amanda and I, the task was like 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.160 the humanitarian crisis that was going on. There was a 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.440 famine that was about to hit the country again, and 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.680 for us, we wanted to try and capture some of 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.960 the the fighting between al Chabob and the African Union Forces. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.400 So I guess again, as a green, young journalist. It 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:08.720 was like, you know, I want to get out to 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.280 the front lines and capture some of what's going on 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.720 to because by that stage, you know, Somali was sort 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.000 of a country that was forgotten about, I guess after 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:18.120 black Hawk Down and those sorts of things which everyone's 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.960 aware of, it really sort of fell out of the 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.240 media cycle, and particularly for us. One of the interesting 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.480 stories was how food aid is brought into the country. 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.920 So you know, food aid from America and Australia and 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.679 Canada is handed over to a third party who basically 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.880 has to pay for that food aid, Like he has 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.880 to hand over money for it, and he doesn't get 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.199 paid until he delivers it to the destination where it's 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:43.400 got to go to. And it's like that's a lot 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:45.440 of risk for one person, and then you've got als 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.559 chabob that raiding those sorts of things. So we wanted 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.160 to sort of see how, you know, food aid from 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.600 western countries is actually dispersed and does it actually get 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.000 to where it is and how corrupt is that that 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.040 whole sort of experience for for the middleman. 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.640 Really, like that was the mission to capture to capture 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:05.000 the year. 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.360 Yeah, the day we left the day we were actually kidnapped, 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.000 we were heading out of Mogadishu. So, you know, everyone 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:14.800 said in Mogadishu had was relatively safe. I think it 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.319 was like eight square blocks around Villa Somalia, which is 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.960 where the president palaces and was controlled by African Union forces. 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.120 They said outside of that, it's sort of militia run areas. 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.040 But the day we were kidnapped, we were traveling to Afkgoya, 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:32.000 which is I think forty k's outside of Mogadishu, and 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:35.640 there were five internally displaced camps there, so I think 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.240 there was about seven hundred thousand people that had been 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:41.200 displaced from Mogadisha because of the fighting, living in those 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:41.880 five camps. 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.360 So you land, do your security travel with you or 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:47.520 did they meet you at the airport with a fixer? 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.840 You by yourself and you've got to meet the security 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:53.839 team and the fixer or you traveling with them. 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.120 No, So we meet the security team once we land 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:01.439 in Mogadishu. So we meet Abdi who it becomes our subfixer. 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.360 I guess, so he speaks English. We also meet a 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:09.360 driver and our security detail. First impressions, Abdi was like 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:15.319 really nice, great English, felt sort of quite secure. I 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.680 guess that, knowing that we had security as well. Again, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:20.920 I think you know the reality check of As we're 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.360 leaving the airport with our bags, there's quite a high 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.079 ranking officer from the African Union forces that are in 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:30.240 country and he's like, what are you guys doing here? 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.000 Explained to him, you know that we're journalists. And then 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:35.360 we're here for seven days and he gives us a number. 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:36.839 It says, if you get in trouble, give us a call. 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:41.280 Yeah, you leave the airport, how many days are you 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:45.160 in country until you're obviously you get that knock on 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.440 the door and your whole world turns upside down. 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:53.440 So we spend the first three days basically connecting with 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.880 I guess people, trying to get access to hospitals. 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:00.320 And that's what's about, isn't It's just getting access, talking 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:04.640 with fixers, trying to get interviews with people, and outside 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:06.800 of your control, right, because you've got to rely on 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:09.240 other people to get you into these locations, right. 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:12.839 Yeah, So we're completely reliant on a juice who's the 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.160 main fixer. We explained to him, what, you know, what 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:17.920 we want to do on the stories that we want 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:20.640 to cover, and you know obviously saying to him, we 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:22.920 want to get out to the front line and sort 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.720 of see the fighting between al Shabab and the African 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.319 Union forces. He's not a chance, not going to happen. 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.200 Where like, we want to go to Bakara Market, which 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:33.720 is a really famous market in Somalia, and they have 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.040 a part of that market is a gun market. 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.000 Again, he said, that's not going to happen. 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:38.720 And knocking you back. 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:43.600 So that's really frustrating. So we end up, like we 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.280 get to a couple of feeding stations where you know 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:48.640 there's thousands of people obviously waiting for food aid that 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.719 sort of stuff. I think one of those locations, I 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.640 think about half an hour after we leave, there's a 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.120 mortar attack. So then we then go to one of 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.280 the main hospitals in Mogadish, which you know, by the 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.559 standards of western countries is it looks just how can 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:09.920 I explain this, uh, pretty. 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:11.720 Shabby. 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.560 Yeah, like you know, very limited resources, doctors run off 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.840 their feet, you know, lots of flies around, lots of infection, 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:20.080 those sorts of things. 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.600 Yeah, and lack of doors, lack of windows. 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.080 Yeah, absolutely, and you know you're in a hospital where 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:27.280 there's fighting around and those sorts of things as well. 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:30.560 So yeah, we get we managed to get three days, 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.400 get out with African Union forces I think on the 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:36.120 third day, which was interesting as well to spend a 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:37.800 bit of time with them, and you know, I think 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.839 they're probably just as terrified as we are. 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.760 And to be fair, knowing the African forces, they're not 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:49.360 the most capable or the best trains trained, and of 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.480 everything that they the lack of resources that they have 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.640 as well the lack of training. Yes, so there you're 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:56.600 on the back foot already. 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.360 Yeah, so yeah, we managed to get three days of 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:01.600 shooting in and you know, I guess trying to create 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.600 some stories and aligning some stuff up for the next 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:09.000 four days. And then obviously day four we'd organized with 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.280 a juice to travel outside of Mogadishu to Afgoya, to 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:15.600 the smallest IDP camp we wanted to go and visit. 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.000 So there was something like five US fifty to sixty 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.280 thousand people in that camp. To give you, I guess 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.840 an overview, there's no running water, there's no electricity. We'd 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.439 heard that during the night Al Shabob were doing raids 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:30.320 into these camps and basically raping women there was a 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.880 small I guess hospital in this smaller camp with a 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.400 woman that was running it. We wanted to go and 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.000 basically photograph her and see what she was doing. So 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:42.160 we'd organized this with a juice the day before he 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.160 said because we were leaving, mogad Isshu said, you're going 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.840 to need extra security detail because you are now going 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.839 into a complete militia run area. So we'd organized extra 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:56.400 security detail for that day and we'd planned to leave 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.520 after the National Geographic guys that were staying in the 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.600 hotel with So there were four journalists and you know, 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.200 we're split into teams. They were heading past half guys, 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:07.720 so we were leaving after. 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:08.560 Them in the morning. 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:11.920 So, yeah, wake up on the morning of the fourth 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.679 day feeling fairly nervous. 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.920 And security's bumped up. You're feeling nervous. You're just going 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.000 outside of mood issue. You know, there's a you know, 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:22.880 you feel been pre warned. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.880 Well and there's more risk in doing that, and I'm 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.600 feeling quite well. It wasn't anxious, so I sort of 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:29.520 it was like my. 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.440 Intuition was feeling I was trying to tell me something 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.840 went out that airport. I get exactly what you mean, 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:35.480 there's something that you go. 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.880 So we're in the hotel waiting for everyone to get ready, 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.200 you know, the drivers and security and that sort of stuff, 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:45.400 and I'm like, oh, I think I'm going to have 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.120 diarrhea and running to the toilet. 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:47.920 Nothing's coming out. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:53.400 And for me that was like intuition saying something shit's 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.360 about to happen to you. So we jump in the car. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.680 The NATO team have left, so we were always meant 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.880 to be this can car behind them. We jump in 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.680 our vehicle, we take off. We get to basically the 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.960 outskirts of Mogadishu where the Mogadishu University is. You've got 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:13.960 African Union troops that are stationed there. You can see 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.240 all the sandbags and guys behind machine guns and those 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.720 sorts of things. The car stops and a security detail 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.480 that are in the vehicle. Basically we're told pretty much 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:26.520 at that point that they have to leave us and 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.320 we now have to travel five kilometers without security detail 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.360 until we pick up our next security detail. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.360 Did that not raise alarm bell? 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:34.680 Absolutely do. 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.960 So there's there's an inside job going on right there 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.440 or something along those way. Yes, because you get your 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.080 security detail. The idea is that. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.040 They stay with you. 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:49.240 On the boots on the ground. 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.360 Well, it was explained to us that because they were 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:55.600 seen as government forces, they can't travel into a militia 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.440 run area, so that they would basically be stationed there. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.560 They would wait until we've come back from the day 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.400 and we'd pick them up. So again, like you know, 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.520 having done hostile environment training, we say, if the plan changes, 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.600 you basically need to stop what you're doing, think about 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.760 the consequences, think about the risks, and if it's too risky, 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:13.920 you go home and have a cup of tea. 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.280 Yeah, red flags basically yeah. Yeah. 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.680 So Amanda and I had a really quick conversation. We 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:20.640 were like, you know, we've come all this way, we 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:22.800 really want to get this story. And we made the 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:24.080 decision that we'd punched through. 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.400 And is that because you've been getting excuse my friend 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.040 shit stories before and you're like, this is the first 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:31.880 meeting one we're going to get. This is the first 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.320 one that we're going to Yeah, I think really sink 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:35.040 our teeth into. 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:37.000 For the first three days, it was this sort of 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:41.240 fed stuff that they were sort of I think, look, 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:41.760 I think. 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:45.480 Almost just pleasing you with little little things, you know. 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.680 To keep us busy while while a juice was working 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.560 with the nat JA guys getting the stuff that we 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.520 were sort of hoping or wanting to get as well. 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:56.080 So it's just like, you guys just can have the 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.800 scraps off the table. We'll just keep you busy, you know. 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.280 So the decision wasn't you were like, let's just go 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:01.480 for it. 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.480 We're here now, let's go made a decision. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.320 There's five of us in the car, we leave our 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.439 security detail and we basically punched down the road. I'm 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.200 mucking around with my camera, basically looking at the images 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.080 I've taken from the day before, deleting images slowly, like 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.280 so had all the shots from while I was with 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:22.800 the African Union Forces. I can remember hearing Amanda and Abdi, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.960 who was our interpreter, sort of speaking by the stage. 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.639 We created quite a good bond with Abdi. He was 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.440 good fun, liked to laugh and they were sort of 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.080 singing and mucking around. And I can remember looking up 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.560 over the driver's shoulder and seeing a car flashing as 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.960 lights because we said they told us that we'd obviously 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.879 intercept another security detail, and I just presumed that that 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:48.960 was the car that was our security detail didn't really 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.639 take much notice, went back to my camera, and then 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.240 as we got to that car, we stopped, and then 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:56.360 I sort of looked up and looked over my right 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.639 shoulder and just saw a guy fully mask faced with 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:04.199 an AK forty seven literally sort of inches away from 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.760 the glass. And then the next thing that you know, aw, 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:08.920 four doors are ripped open. I'm dragged out of the 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:13.040 vehicle driver, the second the guy who's in the in 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.760 the front seat with the driver, and then Abdin Amanda 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:17.879 who in the back were all brought around to my 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.600 side of the car, pushed face down into the dirt 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:26.600 AK forty seven at the back of the head. Very quickly, 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:28.960 all five of us are bundled into the back seat 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.640 of this land cruiser. I've got this really big hostage 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.600 taker who's now sitting beside us. So there's six of 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:36.440 us in the back seat. I've got Amanda on my lap. 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:38.959 Two guys jump in the front, one's got a pistol 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.960 pointing back, and then two young guys again mask face 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.119 at the back who are pointing AK forty seven's at 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:50.000 the back of our heads. 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:56.919 Did you have time to realize what was going on 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:58.480 or before you knew it. He was in the back 0:18:58.480 --> 0:18:59.480 of the land Cruiser. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:01.840 Look, I saw him, and then I looked around and 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:03.800 I saw more guys with guns, and it was like, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.120 I think the whole mast face was just like this, 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:09.800 this ain't good. So basically they surrounded the car, doors 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:14.120 all open. Everyone's ripped out, thrown on the ground, yeah, 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.920 very quickly, thrown back into the vehicle. And then literally 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:20.560 someone jumps in the driver suit and we take you. Yeah, 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.080 and instead of driving down the road, they just go 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:24.200 across country. 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:25.240 So they take you straight off grid. 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:26.960 Like I felt like we're doing one hundred and fifty. 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.000 We're probably only doing eighty. But it was rough, Like 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:30.840 I can remember sort of putting my hands up on 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.639 the roof to brace because I've got a manda on 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.800 me and we're just cross country, you know, driving cross 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:37.439 scrub bush that sort of stuff. 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.280 And at this point, is there any sort of signals 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.280 that you're trying to give to the others or any 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.240 sort of or you just like your head is everywhere. 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:47.520 You don't know what the hell is going on. 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.080 Like for me, I sort of describe it like your 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.160 brain goes to cotton more, like you can't even think 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:52.800 it's just that. 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:54.879