THE wife of one of the four Scottish oilmen released by hostage- takers in Nigeria yesterday described how two simple words – “It’s me” – took her from the depths of utter despair to overwhelming joy in a heartbeat.
They came in a dramatic telephone call to Paula Smith at her home in the Buchan town of Peterhead from the husband she believed was dead – killed at the hands of his kidnappers or from a fatal bout of malaria.
Yesterday, as she cuddled her eldest son Jordan in her arms, Mrs Smith revealed that, by sheer good fortune, it had been the first time in her two days of grieving for her husband, Paul, that she had picked up the phone to answer a call at her home.
“There are no words that can explain how I felt,” she said. “I was hysterical. I was crying. I was screaming ‘Paul’ and the family was wondering what was going on. I couldn’t believe it and when I came off the phone I still couldn’t believe it.
“I thought: ‘Was that him – was it really him?’ But when he phoned again this morning, it was him.”
Two days before the call Mrs Smith had been told that the kidnappers had claimed in telephone conversation with negotiators that her husband was dead.
It was the first news of any kind that the family had received since 3 October when Mr Smith and fellow hostages – Graham McLean, from Elgin, Sandy Cruden, from Inverurie and Graham Buchan, of Stuartfield, Aberdeenshire – had been kidnapped when a gang of 18 armed militants stormed a contractors’ compound in Eket in Nigeria’s volatile delta region.
The family had been told that the claims about her husband’s death had been confirmed by one of his fellow hostages, Mr Buchan, in a brief telephone conversation with the negotiating team.
She had broken the dreadful news to her two little boys, Jordan, four, and Kieran, two, explaining to Jordan that his daddy was “just like the Lion King” – he had gone to heaven and he wouldn’t see him again.
Mrs Smith explained: “It was hard for me to keep it from the kids because I had phone calls all the time and friends and family round all the time.
“The minute I knew – I heard – that he was dead, obviously I had to tell Jordan. The youngest one’s only two so he didn’t understand.
“I just told Jordan about the Lion King – that his dad was up in heaven, but he would always look down on you. He just cuddled into me.
“It broke my heart to tell him – it was the hardest thing. He just cuddled into me and said that he’d dreamed last night that daddy was sleeping next to me in the bed.”
Mrs Smith had spent the morning the call came recounting memories of the husband she loved with members of her family.
“It was absolutely horrendous – grieving in the morning,” she said. “His dad was round and we were speaking about things – memories – and to hear his voice at ten past two was just unbelievable.
“There are no words to explain it. I answered the phone. Everyone was taking phone calls, but it was actually me who answered the phone for the first time in two days – and I am so glad it was me who picked up the phone and got the call.
“When I heard his voice I said: ‘Paul, tell me it’s you.’ I couldn’t believe it. I said: ‘Keep talking to me – please tell me’, because I was hysterical.
“He said: ‘It’s me – calm down – it’s me.’ He said: ‘I’ve been released.’ I said: ‘I thought you were dead.’ He said: ‘Who told you that?’ – and my mind just went blank.”
Her husband, she said, had told her little of the troubles in Nigeria in the year he had worked there after quitting the North Sea. But Mrs Smith said she was certain of one thing – he would not be returning to the West African state.
Lynsey Buchan, the wife of Graeme, also issued a statement yesterday, telling of her joy that all four Scots – and the three other foreign national who were taken hostage with them – had been released. The four Scots are expected to return home for an emotional reunion with their loved ones later today.
Mrs Buchan, 30, who has two children, Jade, seven, and Jack, five, said: “I would like to say how relieved and delighted I am that all of the men have been safely released, and look forward enormously to their homecoming.
“It has been a very traumatic time for family and friends, and everyone is looking forward to seeing Graeme again.”
Mr Cruden’s wife, Shirley, said: “I am absolutely delighted. It’s been a really worrying time for us all. We’re all just delighted they are all safe and coming home at last.”
Alex Salmond, the MP for Banff and Buchan, the constituency in which two of the former hostages live, joked that Mr Smith had been dubbed “Lazarus” by some wags in Peterhead.
But he stressed: “The whole town and the whole community is delighted. It is a very sunny day in Peterhead and everybody is ecstatic about the news for the families.”
Mr Smith’s father, John, said he had been taken aback by the level of support the family had had from the local community: “We have experienced worry, grief and finally elation. Not many people get all three in that order. We would like to thank everyone who prayed for Paul’s safety and for his release. We have had so much support from our town and the community around us. Everyone has been fantastic.”
Foreign Office Minister Lord Triesman also welcomed the release of the men. He said: “I am pleased at the successful outcome to this kidnap and would like to express our thanks to the Nigerian authorities for all their help and assistance. Foreign Office consular staff will now offer the released hostages all the appropriate assistance.”
New threat to foreign oil workers
ROGUE gangs attacking Nigerian oil installations to make a quick profit are intensifying the threat to foreign workers already posed by militant groups, a union warned yesterday.
The Niger Delta Frontier Force, a shadowy new group, made the �21 million ransom demand for the seven released workers, rather than rebels seeking greater benefits for local people from the country’s oil. These groups were responsible for a series of attacks and kidnappings this year.
Jake Molloy, the general secretary of OILC, the offshore workers’ union, said: “There seems to be more and more groups being created. We hadn’t heard of the latest one until this latest incident.
“The fear is that radical groups are now looking for a quick return rather than trying to improve conditions for local people. These splinter groups are causing grief for everyone.”
Mr Molloy said it was difficult to improve security at the workers’ camps, which already have guards. He estimated there were several hundred British oil workers in Nigeria, among a total foreign workforce of up to 1,000. However, most work on safer, offshore platforms. He blamed oil firms for failing to train more local workers, as there was resentment over the camps’ air-conditioned villas and swimming pools, often close to poor villages.
Better pay and conditions add to lure of African climes
OIL workers earn more, receive longer breaks and enjoy a more pleasant climate in Nigeria than in the harsh North Sea.
Extracting oil from beneath the Earth’s surface often involves working in some of the planet’s least attractive spots, so the lure of Africa is unsurprising since the rewards are better than on a windswept platform off Scotland.
Unions estimate that the average basic wage for middle-ranking workers, such as maintenance engineers and electricians, is around �45,000 a year in Nigeria compared to �38,000 in the North Sea.
However, the shift pattern is an even greater draw, with a standard month-on-month-off in Africa compared to the two weeks on, two weeks off in the UK. The longer turnaround is seen as much less disruptive to family life.
Climate is another factor in Africa’s favour – with many workers preferring the relative Nigerian heat to the biting cold of a North Sea gale.