A Carroll County man kidnapped in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta returned home Sunday, following a week of captivity that ended when the gunmen holding him for ransom dumped him on the side of a road, family members told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Greg Ock wasn't injured, just slapped around some, his brother said.
"He told me it was just enough to make him mad," said Michael Ock, who lives in Marietta.
It was not immediately clear whether a ransom was paid. Family members said some kind of deal was struck, but they didn't know specifics.
Ock’s mother, Cheryl Sterling, said he was exhausted by the ordeal.
"But he feels great to be home," she said as Ock headed to bed Sunday afternoon. "Not great, thrilled."
His mother was among about 200 friends and family members who gathered at Ock's home in Bowdon, near the Alabama state line, to welcome him back. He refused requests to be interviewed.
The family met him early Sunday at the Atlanta airport, where he was escorted by FBI officials, then he rode home in a limousine courtesy of his employer, Sterling said.
"We had a big turnout for him, and he looks great," his sister-in-law, Tamara Lane, said. "We just hope he gets some good rest."
Ock, 50, was abducted Jan. 20 in Warri while working on a power plant job for the Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp. Warri is one of the main cities in the West African nation’s Niger Delta, a region where foreign companies have pumped oil for more than 50 years, currently 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day.
Initial reports said the kidnappers had been trailing Ock for some time, but one of them told Ock it was done at random, that they snatched him after spotting him at an ATM machine, his brother said.
Up the road a ways, gunmen ambushed his car, shooting the driver and fatally shooting a police escort riding in the passenger seat, Michael Ock said.
The kidnappers contacted authorities and demanded more than $300,000. Many companies working in the region carry kidnap insurance and pay a negotiated price to free their employees.
Marubeni representatives and U.S. Embassy officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.
"All we know is they came up with some kind of deal," Ock's mother said.
After the kidnappers dropped him off Friday, a passerby on a scooter picked him up and drove him to a police station.
Ock is married and has four daughters. Sterling said the family is grateful for the help they received from the community, such as churches who provided food "and mostly prayers."
"The family just wishes to thank everybody for their well wishes, prayers and thoughts," Lane said. "We have had such amazing support."
The Jan. 20 attack was one of several targeting foreign workers recently. A U.S. State Department travel advisory said there were five reported kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Nigeria last year.
According to news reports, attacks have been blamed on gangs and militants who say they're fighting for a greater share of oil money for locals. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria's government, many living in the delta remain desperately impoverished, with badly polluted waters, no jobs and no access to medical care or education.
In 2006, militants started a wave of attacks targeting foreign oil companies, including pipeline bombings, kidnappings and fighting with security forces. Violence waned in 2009 with an amnesty program promising ex-fighters monthly payments and job training, but few in the area have seen any benefit and criminal gangs still roam the region.
Three days before Ock's abduction, the U.S. Justice Department announced that Marubeni Corp. agreed to pay a $54.6 million criminal penalty to resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-related charges. The company was involved in a long-running scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials for contracts to build a liquefied natural gas facility on Bonny Island, the department said.
Associated Press reports contributed to this article.
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