Last week we had a bit of a security scare here in Port Moresby.  A senior executive at bemobile had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom.

Of course, with the freeway cut in two, traffic at a standstill, and lots of people around – there is lot of opportunity for the odd carjacking etc.  So of course, everyone is on high alert, radios getting checked, safe routes through town being devised, and general caution.  All of which – you should be doing around Moresby anyway, and if you don’t – then you are a target waiting to happen.

Port Moresby isn’t a bad city – it’s poverty and opportunistic thievery that create the issues we have here.  So, keep your doors locked, windows up and generally know what you are doing – and you should be fine.

Anyway – back to our bemobile guy.  What a horrible thing to have happen, and even whilst we were making sure we were being secure, we were all thinking of this poor fella.

but wait…

A headliner in the paper the other day:

Englishman nabbed over K1.7m ransom

turns out that the bemobile executive had tried to ransom himself for K1.7m – wtf?!  This guys caused a hellova lot of stress…  unreal.

So yes folks, a certain englishman kidnapped himself, plonked himself at 17 mile, and tried to extort 1.7 million Kina (about a million NZD) out of his employer.

they don’t call it “Land of the Unexpected” for nothing 🙂