A Canadian who was held hostage for nine days in Nigeria last month says he harbours no ill-will towards his captors because kidnapping is a way of life for them.
Nigerian militants abducted seven foreign workers from the Okoro oilfield on Nov. 8, including Bob Croke of St. John's, N.L.
Croke came face to face with a gun when the militants raided the oil rig in the early morning.
"He was standing near the radio room and when I walked up onto the deck, I just walked into him," Croke told CTV's Canada AM from St. John's on Thursday morning.
"And he didn't say much at that time until there was about six or seven others who came behind him with guns."
But the situation quickly escalated.
The militants demanded to see the rig's captain and in the commotion fired a shot that hit Croke in the foot.
Croke and the other hostages were taken by boat to a militant camp in the region.
The journey lasted four hours, during which time Croke was "thinking about my family, thinking about what we were going through."
Croke said that once he and the other hostages were in the custody of the kidnappers, they were mostly treated well.
The kidnappers intended to seek a ransom for the release of the workers.
Croke said it was clear that he and his fellow hostages would have to wait out a period of negotiations before they would be released.
He and the other hostages were freed on Nov. 17 in a reported military operation.
At the time of Croke's release, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson would not reveal the details of the rescue because "that might compromise or jeopardize the safe return of someone else in the future."
Croke said the militants who abducted the foreign workers are uneducated and they resort to kidnapping because it is a practical way of getting what they want.
"These people live in an area where there is no place where they can get an education, health care and so on and so forth," said Croke.
"I just know that what they do is the only thing that they know what to do."
With files from The Canadian Press
