“I would never recommend working in Nigeria to anyone”

Kidnapped off Nigeria – An American Ship Captain Unveils the Truth
Captain Thomas yearned for a different lifestyle than that of a farmer in the midwest. “Two weeks after graduating high school in 1984, I found myself swabbing the deck on board the Arcemont Tide, a supply boat owned by Tidewater Marine providing services to the jack-up rig, Glomar High Island IV.”
In May 2007, he left Hornbeck in favor of a position at Edison Chouest (ECO), a company which at the time, had new boats and better accommodations. Best of all, they provided their crews a cook.
Shortly after joining ECO, Captain Wren Thomas was transferred to India to work on a frac boat for about a year before delivering the vessel to Brazil.
After the delivery, he was transferred to Nigeria to work on another frac boat.
A year later he requested a transfer to Onne, Nigeria so he could get back to supply boats.
On 5 July 2011, Captain Wren Thomas took command of the supply vessel C-Retriever. The crew and vessel worked exclusively in support of the Chevron-operated Agbami Field.
On 22 October 2013, Captain Thomas’ supply vessel was attacked by pirates and his 18-day ordeal started.

What sort of training were you given before working in Nigeria?
No special training for Nigeria or Pirates.

Did any of your training include anti-piracy training?
Not really.

Was the fuel theft business discussed directly with you on an official level prior to being assigned to Nigeria?
Yes and No. It’s a tough issue that no one wants to address.

What did you know about the fuel theft business prior to working in Nigeria?
Nothing at all.

Now that you’ve worked in Nigeria, what can you tell me about the fuel theft business?
It’s a dangerous situation. People get hurt or killed if they cross the wrong people.

Who is involved in the fuel theft business?
It seems like everyone in Nigeria is involved.

Were there warning signs of things to come? Any close calls?
There were many warning signs. I was threatened many times, but nothing was ever done in response.

Did you have a citadel?
No, we used the Bulk Tank Room, with the engine room to the front of it and the z-drive room to the back of it. The pirates had 2 ways to get to us either through the watertight door dividing the engine room or the emergency escape hatch in the z-drive room. It was easier and more convenient for them to cut through the door to the engine room. When the pirates came through, they were armed with AK-47s and an M-60.

Where did they take you?
When the pirates kidnapped me and the other American, we were immediately taken ashore. For the first week we stayed in the bush further inland and then I talked them into moving us. I told them I was going to die from a heart attack at this location because of the high traffic causing noises. Every time they heard anything, they chambered rounds in their weapons. This is how we existed every night and day. So finally I talked enough sense to them that they moved us to the swamps right off the beach. We were hidden very well in the creeks.

What did they feed you?
Indomie Noodles (ramen noodles) – we got a packet of these every other day. And on the days the Negotiators would make them angry, we wouldn’t eat.

How did they treat you?
Horribly. Very inhumane. They fought with each other the entire time, they would chamber rounds on each other and they would beat each other.
They treated us like animals. It’s about as close as a person could get to being a POW. Some of them were particularly cruel to us. The stifling air was filled with smoke from crack and pot the entire time.
I found my training as a Marine kicked in and provided me with survival skills. I knew not to fuck with these people. I did push them as far as I could and then I would back down.
I knew not to piss off a Nigerian. Or worse a Nigerian pirate, or even worse a Nigerian Pirate on drugs. I was surrounded by the last kind.

Did they let you communicate with anyone?
On the 6th day, I spoke with my Nigerian Manager and then after my second talk with him, he refused to talk to me.

Did any of the pirates try to befriend you while you were kidnapped?
Yes, one of their community boys (slaves) who cooked for us did. I actually got close to him. He was alone it seemed. Most of the other Nigerians hated him, although he was good friends with the leader. He was very scared and often wanted to sleep on the piece of foam with my Engineer and me. He was like a scared kid. He asked if I wanted some tea. I told him yes then when he got around to it about an hour later I told him I didn’t want it, since the caffeine probably wouldn’t be good for me. Even this kid could snap – he went completely nuts and told me not to ever make him angry again or I would regret it.
He had Satan in his eyes. I apologized to him and accepted some tea.

Under what circumstances were you released?
We were taken up the river and exchanged after the money was counted. We were given to a team of three Nigerians that were sent by one of the tribal chiefs acting as a 3rd party for ECO.

Tell me what it was like to return home.
I was still running on adrenalin. I had very little sleep during the 18 days I spent in captivity, and then I was up for about 72 hours while going through two debriefings. After spending a few hours with my sons, grandsons and wife in Lafayette, I finally slept. It was difficult not being able to find help or talk to anyone about my experience except friends and family. I felt really bad, felt it was my entire fault, and then it got really bad after I started hearing the lies that were being told to my family. No one ever offered me an opportunity to visit a doctor or receive any counseling or psychiatric help, let alone to pay for such treatment or meds. When I got home, I was on my own.
Lisa Hamby with ECO finally – I think in January – decided to ask about my medical condition and wanted to offer to help pay for everything with the demands that I release all my medical records to ECO.
Up until I got help and put on proper meds I wanted to end my life. Every time I was alone in my house, I was trying to figure out which gun I was going to use. When I was driving, I was trying to figure out how I could do it in my truck. I would get so engrossed in wanting to kill myself that I would get dizzy.
I hated what I put everyone through.

What is the hardest thing you’ve had to deal with since you have been released?
Putting my family through this – I have a 92 year old grandmother. Not being able to tell my story to all the news agencies that wanted to hear it, the thought that I came really close to killing myself out in the bush and at home, all of the lies and not getting help sooner than what I did.
The VERY BIG THING THAT HURT THE MOST is neither my family nor myself ever hearing from Gary Chouest, the owner of the company I was working for when kidnapped by the Nigerian pirates.
I realize there was a lot going on, but a few words to express that they were doing everything they could to get us home, or even meeting with us upon our release would have been nice.

If you could provide advice to anyone considering working offshore Nigeria, what would it be?
I would never recommend it to anyone. If I did I would tell them to stay in the United States. Or if they go overseas make sure the ship has armed guards and never, ever work in Nigeria.
Are there any policies that should be changed at companies like ECO, or their clients, to help prevent such incidents from happening in the future?
Yes take threats as threats – don’t brush off these indicators, because it’s a very dangers environment to work in.
Also, have two American Captains and two American Chief engineers per hitch running at the same time to give additional skill and experience to the vessels.
Of course, armed guards and citadels should be installed. Make sure the vessel is in top condition. We had 2 fire monitors and 1 was broke and both had to be started in the engine room but could be controlled from the wheel house.
We need night vision cameras, If you don’t have a citadel, make the wheel house bullet proof along with all exits in the wheelhouse (thick stainless steel with hidden hinges). A citadel should be stocked with radios, food, water, ventilation, satellite phone, panic button, first aid kits, medicines, etc.

How often do kidnappings of westerners occur offshore Nigeria?
It happens often. Just 2 years before me, two Americans and a Mexican got kidnapped off the C-Endeavour. About a week before me, one of our newer boats got attacked, but the pirates didn’t get on the ship for some reason. About 6 months ago, one of the Captains on one of our crew boats got poisoned.

What is Edison Chouest’s policy with regard to the fuel theft trade?
That’s a hard one. Captains have been caught in the US airports with thousands of dollars and nothing happened.
The Fast Servant got shot up and 2 captains beat over the Exxon fuel monitor.
If the company wanted to stop it, they could put the Fuel Tracks back onboard all of their vessels in Nigeria and/or pull all their vessels out of Nigeria if it proves dangerous to do this.
Everyone has always said that the cause of the C-Endeavor’s attack was a fuel deal gone bad, that they had sold fuel to two buyers, but only pumped to one of them. In turn, the guy that didn’t get the fuel was very angry.
I was told by a Nigerian chief that he was on the bridge when the angry buyer came onboard and threatened the master wanting like one million US dollars to make it all go away. He had the captain on his knees begging for forgiveness on the bridge. Those 2 captains and the Mexican chief engineer were kidnapped for 14 days nearly 2 years ago. The chief engineer is now back in Nigeria and the 2 captains, from what I hear, got brand new vessels in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Has anyone at ECO threatened you in any way if you told your story?
They told me that it wouldn’t be in my best interest and that they couldn’t stop me but that they were not going to give me their blessing.
Gary Chouest was supposed to call me according to my manager to talk to me about it and never did.
I was begging to talk, as this is what my Doctors were saying I needed to do to help me get over this. The best thing is to always talk and to stop it from living rent free in your head.
Why was this a hush-hush situation? – The reason I ask is because if I were ever captured, I would definitely want everyone in the world to know.
To be blunt, ECO didn’t want the world to know they screwed up again and still, two years after the C-Endeavor incident, the vessels had not been made any safer.
We were told that it would be in everyone’s best interest not to talk and I took this as a threat.
I spent 18 days in Nigerian swamps because of threats. So I thought it best not to push my luck on ignoring threats. My office, in their own way, said we can’t stop you from talking, but you are not getting our blessing nor do we recommend that you do it.