Kidnap picture by John Owen
Finally, we were kidnapped. The jungle where we were 'ambushed' is located in Hereford somewhere close to Wales. Twenty-five postgraduate students of International Journalism from City University London, led by John Owen who teaches International News at City and a proponent of safety training for journalists in all climes, took us to the ‘lion’s den’ and for two days we were at the 'mercy' of our tough, war-like trainers who themselves have fought in many battles and attended to war victims in many parts of the globe. The 'incident' took place in the afternoon of 19 June 2008 when some serious farmers in the community were tending their farms.
Two masked gun-wielding men in their mid forties and a young woman armed with an AK-47 rifle suddenly emerged from a nearby bush as we made to leave the fringes of the farms in Hereford and released two quick shots into the air. “Stop there”, they ordered as they moved towards one of the female students in our midst. Follow me”, one of them barked as the rest ordered all of us to lie face down under a crushing heat. Could this be a dream or a reality, I began to wonder. It was and were relieved to know it was just a mock kidnap.
Fret not about this and take it not to heart. It was a mere simulation carried out by the firm of AKE Ltd based in Hereford in the United Kingdom, one of the most sought-after safety training institutes in Europe and America.
As part of the one-year MAIJ training, Owen had taken us through many reporting fields around the world and exposed us to the hazards inherent in reporting the world and stressed the need for us to get some training as we prepare to round off the course. That is what took us to the serene atmosphere in Hereford surrounded by farms, shrubs and jungles-a sight we all wanted to embrace for many days or even weeks.
For two days-June 18 and 19, Andrew Kain, Paul Brown and another took us through the rudiments of safety, weather, first aid, food, security issues and working in volatile areas where land mines and other lethal weapons may be on display.
We were also exposed to the different techniques of avoiding becoming an easy prey to adversaries of journalists in conflict zones.
Indeed, it was an eye-opener. It made sense to us, as our teachers made us to be conversant with the different ways of offering first aid to anyone around us and what do in different circumstances where someone has been injured in the course of our work.
Perhaps, the highpoint of the training came when we were split into groups of ‘medics’ and ‘victims’ and made to attend to ourselves in turns. I could see how difficult it was to render medical service to one of my colleagues from Kenya who was assigned as a wounded journalist to me to handle.
Clearly, every journalist who wants to excel in the trade should never hesitate to get a lesson in this area. It is something I believe every journalism institution should incorporate into its curriculum and even make compulsory. I do not think anyone who wants to operate safely can go far without gaining insights into the training course. Andrew Kain and his friends at Ake need to even get their safety training package across to schools and other organisations that train media operatives.
City University, which is noted as the ‘University for Employment’ should consider adding safety training into its MAIJ curriculum and encourage others to join the fray as it is one of the leading journalism institutions in Britain and Europe.
Two masked gun-wielding men in their mid forties and a young woman armed with an AK-47 rifle suddenly emerged from a nearby bush as we made to leave the fringes of the farms in Hereford and released two quick shots into the air. “Stop there”, they ordered as they moved towards one of the female students in our midst. Follow me”, one of them barked as the rest ordered all of us to lie face down under a crushing heat. Could this be a dream or a reality, I began to wonder. It was and were relieved to know it was just a mock kidnap.
Fret not about this and take it not to heart. It was a mere simulation carried out by the firm of AKE Ltd based in Hereford in the United Kingdom, one of the most sought-after safety training institutes in Europe and America.
As part of the one-year MAIJ training, Owen had taken us through many reporting fields around the world and exposed us to the hazards inherent in reporting the world and stressed the need for us to get some training as we prepare to round off the course. That is what took us to the serene atmosphere in Hereford surrounded by farms, shrubs and jungles-a sight we all wanted to embrace for many days or even weeks.
For two days-June 18 and 19, Andrew Kain, Paul Brown and another took us through the rudiments of safety, weather, first aid, food, security issues and working in volatile areas where land mines and other lethal weapons may be on display.
We were also exposed to the different techniques of avoiding becoming an easy prey to adversaries of journalists in conflict zones.
Indeed, it was an eye-opener. It made sense to us, as our teachers made us to be conversant with the different ways of offering first aid to anyone around us and what do in different circumstances where someone has been injured in the course of our work.
Perhaps, the highpoint of the training came when we were split into groups of ‘medics’ and ‘victims’ and made to attend to ourselves in turns. I could see how difficult it was to render medical service to one of my colleagues from Kenya who was assigned as a wounded journalist to me to handle.
Clearly, every journalist who wants to excel in the trade should never hesitate to get a lesson in this area. It is something I believe every journalism institution should incorporate into its curriculum and even make compulsory. I do not think anyone who wants to operate safely can go far without gaining insights into the training course. Andrew Kain and his friends at Ake need to even get their safety training package across to schools and other organisations that train media operatives.
City University, which is noted as the ‘University for Employment’ should consider adding safety training into its MAIJ curriculum and encourage others to join the fray as it is one of the leading journalism institutions in Britain and Europe.
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