Addison Pierre, a popular American YouTuber, has taken to his social media accounts to narrate his ordeal during his recent visit to Haiti where he was allegedly abducted by 400 gang members.
Yourfellow Arab, as he is popularly known, embarked on a journey to Haiti to interview Haiti gang leader, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier.
In an interview with VOA Maalouf said he was supposed to interview Barbecue Jimmy Cherizier, the leader of the G9 gang alliance.
His dream of having an interview with the famous leader appeared to be on course as he narrated that Barbecue had approved and agreed to his request.
However, his journey and experience in Haiti took a different turn after he encountered members of a rival gang which kidnapped him and his crew.
“We had confirmed an interview with Barbecue Jimmy Cherizier, leader of the G9 gang alliance, Barbecue had approved us, and we had safe passage until a group of corrupt security set us up – corrupt police officers in the country set us up and set up an ambush on us to kidnap us,” he narrated.
The Youtuber and his Haitian colleague were reportedly held for 17 days before being released after parting with a $50,000 ransom equivalent to Kshs 6.5 million
The gang gave back everything they had confiscated from him but retained their SD card before setting him free.
Addison also highlighted the corruption in the country citing the number of times his car was stopped to pay bribes which he believes was under the instructions from the gangs.
Fixer Roubens, who accompanied him, described the detention as the worst moment of his life.
“In my 20-year career as a journalist, this is the worst moment of my life. I can’t say I was beaten by the kidnappers, but it was the worst moment for me,” he said.
Moments before Addison Pierre was kidnapped
Before the ordeal, the YouTuber was enjoying his time at a hotel in Cap Haitien located in the North.
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“I just want to show you guys the entire view of the hotel, the only people in the hotel are employees because no one is allowed in the country, so there’s no tourists here other than those royal Caribbean guys. I have the entire hotel to myself,” he said.
How news about Addison’s broke
The news of his abduction spread after his friend and fellow streamer popularly known as Lalem confirmed the reports on his X account.
In a statement, Lalem said, “Tried Keeping it private for 2 weeks, but it’s getting out everywhere now, Yes Arab has been kidnapped in Haiti and were working on getting him out. Love y’all he’ll be out soon.”
It is still unclear if he made it home. In a subsequent post, YourfellowArab had promised to give more information after getting home from the violence-hit nation.
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“I was kidnapped purely for the color of my skin. Can’t give any more detail till I’m home, but all I will say for now is – Glory be to God. Released between Good Friday & Easter, Christ is King. When you’re kidnapped in the middle of the Haitian Desert 60 minutes away from any civilization in a concrete shack surrounded by barbed wire, you don’t pray to a rainbow flag, you pray to God,” Malouf expressed.
He made it clear that his remarks about the country were as a result of the frustration he experienced due to his abduction. He also clarified that Haiti is beautiful and that he would come back when calm is restored.
“I posted that video about how it is a horrible country because what I have been through,” he said.
“I have dozens of videos talking about how this is the most beautiful country in the world. I have told my family that when things get better, I want to come back here and visit. And I spent the last 36 hours meeting with many families here in their homes and full of gratitude.”
