September 13 by
Varanisese Nasilasila NADI
It was an experience that
Lance Corporal Joeli Naivola will not easily forget after being recently
released by the Jabhat al-Nusra Front in Syria on Friday morning.
Speaking to the Fiji Sun from Syria, Lance Corporal Naivola
described the bond of friendship they had developed with their captors during
their two weeks of captivity. He said: “It was very emotional for us to say
goodbye; the group (captors) had even cried and thanked us for our friendship,”
he said. Lance Corporal Naivola said they were grateful to God for keeping them
safe.“For 14 days straight we were just praying and fasting for the captors to
change their minds and release us. At first there was very tight surveillance
for the first few days, then they came to us and started talking and as days
went we started to build our relationship,” he said.
Lance Corporal Naivola said
the captors had removed all their weapons and they were just left with their
clothes they were wearing for two weeks straight.“We surrendered everything
except our clothes; but we kept our faith in God that we would be released. At
first they strictly guarded our area but later on they just left us there,
trusting us that nothing would happen. We were well fed and no harm was done to
us,” Lance Corporal Naivola said.
Meanwhile back in Fiji his
family was overwhelmed when they received the good news. Wife Leba Naivola said
the children were very happy to speak to their dad early yesterday morning as
they left for school.“Their dad called and they all spoke to him, they were
really happy to hear that their Dad was okay and that meant a lot to them,” she
said.
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