A FORMER Royal Marine has revealed what it is like to be taken hostage – having been kidnapped three years on the trot.
Simon Maryan, 52, enrolled in the Royal Marines aged 16 and spent some 16 years in the service.
Originally from Plymouth, Simon went on to work privately for multinational companies and intelligence services around the world.
He has been kidnapped twice in Nigeria, and once in Sweden, and counts himself lucky.
Simon, who now lives near Aberdeen with his wife and two children, said: “Kidnapping is going on all day every day. It is huge business. It was an unfortunate side to the job but I am extremely lucky in that the hostage periods were short.”
He was kidnapped for the first time in 2006 while working for a private intelligence service in Nigeria.
Simon was taken hostage by a military group campaigning against government corruption and environmental destruction.
Simon said: “It was surreal. Fifteen to twenty Nigerian gentlemen boarded our boat in the middle of the night with RPGs and AK-47s.
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