After six days in captivity, where he underwent harrowing experiences, The Guardian correspondent in Bayelsa State, Mr. Julius Olusegun Osahon, was on Friday night released by his abductors and taken to Ughelli Police Station, Delta State, for debriefing before reuniting with his family.
 
Osahon, a former chairman of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel, of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Bayelsa State Council, was abducted last Sunday, along with other 17 passengers in a commercial bus around Evwreni, along the Patani axis of the East-West road, by gunmen, after shooting the driver of the vehicle, who died instantly.
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They, thereafter, marched the victims into the nearby bush, releasing five of them afterward. The abductors later contacted Osahon’s wife, initially demanding the sum of N5m before he could be released, an amount that was later increased following publications on the incident, as they reckoned that he was a “big man.” 
 
Although details of his released remained sketchy at press time, it was gathered that his family bought his freedom with an undisclosed amount of money.
 
Following his release, Osahon, who sounded tired and traumatised, told The Guardian, yesterday, that he went through terrible times, just as he recalled that he and other abductees were made to trek for a long distance in the bush.
 
The reporter, who confirmed that he was released on Friday night, thanked God for sparing his life and was full of appreciation for individuals who assisted in one way or the other in securing his freedom.  

He was in stable condition and has reunited with his family in Benin City, the Edo State capital. When contacted, the state Police spokesman, Bright Edafe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed Osahon’s release, saying the Police were working round the clock to arrest the suspects for prosecution.
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