Survival tips Journalists can deploy when Kidnapped
Nothing can truly prepare you for the sheer terror you will feel at the point of being abducted. You will probably experience the most frightening, violent action of your life.
It is most likely that there will be a lot of shouting and screaming and there is a good chance that guns will be produced and fired.
Some kidnapped persons are shot and killed. Others are physically beaten to ensure compliance. You will most likely be bundled into a getaway car, ears ringing with the sound of discharged assault rifles. Your heart will be beating so fast that it will feel like it is about to explode and your mind will be overwhelmed while you attempt to make sense of what has just happened.
Here are some tips that will keep you alive or even escape from the kidnappers.
Be bold and escape when you have a chance.
In the midst of all this frightening terror, your greatest chance of escape will occur during the first moments of a kidnap. If an opportunity presents itself, take it because once you are taken away from the location of the kidnap, your chances are reduced, and that of your kidnapper are increased because they are the only ones who know where they are now taking you to and it is normally a place that is completely under their control.
Be calm and comply if you don’t have a chance.
However, If you have no opportunity to effectively resist or escape then keep your head down and comply with all instructions given.
Avoid knowing your abductors identity
Avoid trying to look in the faces of your abductors, it is always fatal if you see a known face and that person too recognizes you immediately. The chances that you will come out alive are reduced badly, for the fear that the person (s) will feel that if you are eventually released or you escaped, you will help security track them down.
Withstand their mind games and do not antagonize your captors
Your abductors will probably be blindfolded or have a hood pulled over your head. You might also be handcuffed, chained, or tied up.
The first point of trying to break your defense mechanism is the blindfold which reduces your sight as such you will rely on one of them dragging you along, thereby psychologically making you feel helpless and dependent on them. Keep this in mind and stay strong.
You will be taken to a pre-planned stronghold, most likely you will find yourself living in the open spaces with roofs over you, sometimes under trees or shrubs if you are lucky in cramped conditions in a cell-like space sometimes no bigger than a closet.
In the first 48 hours, you may not get sufficient sleep because your captors concentrate on gaining as much information on you as possible while breaking your inner resolve to resist or attempt to escape. You might be beaten up and tortured. If you are a woman you might be raped or threatened with rape.
Try to stay calm through all these and try not to antagonize your captors. Being aggressive will not help you. Be obedient.
Play the sucker to beat the sucker
You should even act as if you are depressed, so they feel they have broken you psychologically, that way they get comfortable with you, this keeps you going.
When they lose interest in breaking you down further, you can use your mental energy to ensure your safety.
Nonetheless, do not demean yourself by pleading with your captors, and try to avoid standing out if you are part of a group. Kidnappers will often single out one person from the group as the ‘whipping boy’. Don’t let that person be you.
In all, note that your first priority is to remain alive because you can not escape or be exchanged with a ransom when you’re already dead. Your second priority is to leave either by escaping or by collaborating with the captors until you are freed.
To remain alive do not provoke them. Find a way to make sure you are valuable, because if you prove to have zero value, they may consider you to be dead weight and kill you. On the other hand, if you prove to be very valuable, they will overprotect you and you will have zero chances of escape
