‘I am a kidnap victim, please help me’

WARREN Rodwell, who was freed by his Abu Sayyaf captors on Saturday, had to paddle a boat to a distant town before he was able to get help.

The Australian ex-soldier recounted his experience on Sunday, saying that his kidnappers fired shots to stop him escaping during his 15-month ordeal.

When finally released, Rodwell had to take a long boat ride and wade ashore through the mud to reach safety, said Inspector Eurem Macasil, the first policeman to meet him.

Rodwell, 54, was abducted from his home in the southern Philippine town of Ipil on December 5, 2011 and was freed before dawn Saturday after extensive negotiations.

The militants were paid P4 million,

according to Al Rashid Sakalahul, the deputy governor of the Muslim province of Basilan.

Wharf supervisor Nathaniel Campos was the first person to spot the Australian as he waded ashore in darkness in the port city of Pagadian.

A surprised Campos asked the soaked and mud-splattered foreigner if he was a tourist.

“No, I’m not a tourist. I am a kidnap victim. Please help me!” Rodwell replied.

Campos took Rodwell to the nearby headquarters of the Pagadian maritime police where Macasil offered him a cup of coffee.

Rodwell was so weak he could barely bring the cup to his lips, Macasil said.

He told the police officer some of his experiences, like how his captors had repeatedly transferred him from one small island to another to elude pursuit.

During his captivity, he was not shackled or caged but was always closely watched by the gunmen.

“He said he had several opportunities to escape but was not successful. They would open fire and force him to stop,” Macasil said.

“He said he was worried after he heard in a conversation (among the gunmen) that there was an (armed) encounter and that they cut off someone’s head,” the police officer said.

Rodwell said he was in the southernmost island group of Tawi-Tawi, near the maritime border with Malaysia, when the gunmen took him by boat to Pagadian to release him.

They left him in a rowboat off Pagadian and told him to paddle to safety. But when he reached the shore, the tide was out and was forced to wade through the mud.

Rodwell was later picked up by Philippine and Australian authorities who flew him to the southern city of Zamboanga, where he is receiving medical attention at a major military base.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr welcomed his release.

“This is great news for Mr. Rodwell and his family,” Carr said in a statement.

“I’m advised Mr. Rodwell is now in the company of Philippines authorities, our Deputy Ambassador Andrew Byrne and a representative of the Australian Defense Force and will be moved to a safe location,” he added.

Carr said that Rodwell’s “family has shown enormous courage throughout this ordeal.”

P4 million

Sakalahul said that Rodwell’s fam- ily paid the P4 million ransom.

“It was Rodwell’s wife who really worked hard for this negotiation to succeed and they paid four million pesos to the kidnappers,” he told The Manila Times.

Sakalahul said he did not know where the money was sourced, but the kidnappers initially wanted P7 million and lowered this to P6.5 million and eventually agreeing to P4 million. “It was really a tough negotiation, but in the end, with God’s help we managed to secure the release of Rodwell,” he said.

He said he made the admission to douse speculations that he benefitted from the ransom payment.

“I don’t want to be accused by anyone that I benefitted from this negotiation. My only mission is to save the life of Rodwell by getting him out from the Abu Sayyaf,” he said. AFP WITH A REPORT

FROM AL JACINTO