Agric Bus Stop
arguably boasted of one of the
highest number of people that
lived in Ikorodu. A market
woman screamed at a man who
was half running to catch a bus
that had just one more seat left,
and in the process, scattered
some of her fresh peppers on
the ground.
“Oloshi..Oloriburuku…Weyrey!!!”
she screamed obscenities at the
man at the top of her lungs. The
culprit was already in the bus. If
he heard the curses rained on
him, he didn’t show it. I smiled
wryly, bent and began helping
the woman pick the pepper
scattered on the floor. I washed
my hands with the water she
provided and continued on my
way home. I was feeling
particularly happy though. I had
just experienced a wonderful
time in the arms of my
heartthrob. I called in sick from
work and had spent the past
5hours with her. She was going
to be away for quite a while,
studying for her Masters in
Canada. I had a quick flash back
in my subconscious. The smile
grew wider.
I crossed to the other side of the
road. I needed to take a “keke
napep” to the entrance of my
street. I still had a little bit of
distance to cover so I increased
my pace. I wondered why there
were so much people in this part
of Lagos. It is the outskirts of the
commercial center of the city and
yet it was a host to a lot of new
tenants every day. I dreamt of
one day owning plots of land in
Banana Island, having properties
on Queens Drive Ikoyi or even a
big Hotel in Lekki. Not this
dumpster I had to hide in
because of my past.
“Owa o.” I said to the driver as I
got to my bus stop. I paid him,
collected my change and
watched as he zoomed off. I
waited patiently at the bus stop
for the road to clear so I could
cross and enter my street. I was
still waiting there when all of a
sudden, a black tinted Toyota
camry screeched to a stop in
front of me. The back door
yanked open and a huge man,
dark glasses, wearing a mafia
suit came out of the car, gave me
a blinding slap and then bundled
me inside the car. The car sped
off. All happened in seconds.
My head was ringing; I felt blood
on my lips. I touched my lower
lip. There was a little cut and it
was a bit swollen. It took a while
for my eyes to readjust to the
darkness inside the car. I was
sandwiched between two huge
men. The one who hit me was on
my right. I could tell because he
still had his glasses on. I studied
my environment trying to make
out any detail that would help
me. The dimly lit car did not help
matters. Two guys. I guessed
they were thugs. The other guy
wore a body hugging t-shirt,
silver necklace and had a huge
mustache. He was smoking and
did not seem to care about me.
The driver wore a face cap. Met
his eyes about once or twice
from the rear view mirror. There
was no other passenger in front.
I could feel the eyes of my captor
on me. I wanted to speak but
was afraid to. I opened my
mouth. Nothing came out. I was
still in a state of shock. I quickly
said a prayer for God to forgive
me of my sins. I was too young
too die. Different thought
crossed my mind. These guys
looked a little bit sophisticated. I
did not owe any one money. I
did not do any bad deals. Had my
old life finally caught up with me?
I managed to catch a glimpse of
the macho’s wristwatch. It was
pure gold. Welders. Were they
ritual killers? I shuddered at the
thought. So this was how I was
going to die?
We were driving at high speeds,
avoiding the small roads and
sticking to the freeway. My eyes
were accustomed to the dimly lit
vehicle. I decided if I was going
to die, I should at least know
what was happening. As I made
to open my mouth, Macho man’s
phone rang.
“Hello ma. Yes ma’am, we got the
package. Okay ma.”
The other guy finished his
cigarette and lit another one.
Package? Am I the package? A
woman was calling the shots?
I decided to be brave.
“Good evening sir. Please sir
what I have I done? Where are
you taking me? I beg you in the
name…” I began to say, facing
Macho man.
The smoking thug gave me a
powerful back hand slap to the
side of my face.
I passed out.
The room was spacious and
wide. Exotic furniture neatly
arranged at the corners of the
huge sitting room. The blinds
were slightly drawn allowing a
trickle of early morning sun into
the room. There was a huge
plasma on the wall and a bar to
its left. The walls were painted
white with an accent of blood
red here and there in the room.
The blinds were red, the couch,
the reclining chair, the little table
and even the bar was painted
red. Every other thing was in
pure white including the ceiling.
Sophia paced uneasily to and fro.
She had a bottle of Baileys on
one hand and a wine cup in the
other. She was restless. She was
worried. Bruno and Marshal
were yet to get back to her. This
was a simple mission. Get the
boy, and bring him to the safe
house. She did not trust those
fools but they had been highly
recommended by Gambo. Now
they were nowhere to be found.
Her phone rang again, it was the
General. She had this strong
desire not to answer the phone.
But the General always knew. She
answered it on the first ring.
“What is the situation on ground,
S?” The General asked. She could
see the wrinkles on his forehead.
The General always knew. She
was sure he already knew what
the situation was. He had spies
everywhere. That was why he
was called the General. Everyone
feared him. No one dared him.
Very few people have met him.
And the General hardly calls.
When he did, there was trouble.
“The situation is under control
sir.” Sophia answered.
“I did not ask if the situation was
under control. I asked WHAT the
situation is. I am going to call you
pretty soon. You had better have
an answer for me.” He said and
hung up.
Typical General. Always the last to
speak and never failing to seize
an opportunity to keep you edgy.
She knew that he knew that the
fools she had sent to bring in the
boy were MIA. This was her first
major assignment. She really did
not want to flop. She originally
wanted to take a subtle measure.
Lure him in with some girl. But
that would take time and there
was a chance he would not fall
for the bait. Force was the only
option.
They had been watching Sean for
three months now, twenty four
hours round the clock. They had
a different agent on him every
six hours. He had been chosen as
the ideal candidate. Perfect
height. Perfect age. Perfect face,
countenance, education and
work orientation. All that
remained was to determine his
lifestyle and how a typical day for
Sean looked like. Sophia spent
hours going over each agent’s
report about Sean. She was
always with her radio; the agents
would phone in to say that Sean
had changed routine or gone
somewhere away from their
jurisdiction. This was where her
leadership came in. She would
order them to follow or let him
be. She had pulled her strings
twice. Sean had made plans to
travel out of the city. He had
bought a ticket to fly to Abuja.
This was going to put a huge
hole in their plans. He had to be
kept in the city at all costs. A call
was made to the General. Sean
was held back at work and
denied leave to travel. Another
time, his office had made plans
for his department to travel for a
refresher course in Kenya. Sophia
was informed. The trip was
terminated. They had contacts
everywhere including the
government. When they wanted
something, they always got it.
They had considered kidnapping
his girlfriend. The General did not
want the silly police force
involved. They would just be
crawling everywhere, impeding
progress. This was going to be a
snatch and grab operation. Very
few witnesses, if any. Sean lived a
reckless life. His mother hardly
monitored him. She believed he
was capable of handling himself.
They sometimes went three
weeks without communicating.
He had no close friends. His
girlfriend was travelling out of
the country. She was the only
worry. A slight worry that could
be easily fixed.
So they had decided to ‘grab’
Sean. They waited patiently for
the opportunity. A black Toyota
Prado was parked across the
street opposite New Inn, the
hotel that Sean and his girlfriend
were in. They waited for five
hours, listening in on their
conversation and their sex. Sean
had been bugged. As usual.
There was a different agent
every day and a different agent
for this purpose. A handshake, a
hug, a collision, whatever
brought physical contact. And
they were good. The microchip
was planted on him. The
transmitter was live. Sean never
suspected anything. They most
times knew of his plans for the
next day. So they had planned
the smash and grab to
perfection. They knew he was
going home to see his mother
that evening. They knew his
girlfriend was going out of the
country. They knew he would
always wait to cross the road
when he got down from the
“keke napep”. That was when
they would strike. They only
hoped that he would not cross
the road too soon or decide not
to go home. If that happened
they would have to hatch
another plan.
A Toyota Camry was at Agric bus
stop waiting for the signal to
know when they would move.
The Toyota Prado trailed the bus
Sean was in. It was easy. Sophia
was listening in the whole time
via radio communication. She
chipped in orders here and there
and monitored the whole
operation. The Toyota Camry
traced the “keke-napep”,
increased speed when Sean got
off and picked him up at the bus
stop. It was done. Mission
accomplished. She called Marshal
to confirm if he had the package.
He was positive. The journey
would take approximately 8
hours. They knew that. All
contingency measures had been
put in place. All possible
loopholes were closed and taken
care of. And if anything else came
up unexpectedly out of the blues,
there was Bruno. He was the
brain. He had the ability of split
second thinking. He was able to
come up with ideas to go past
seemingly impassable hurdles.
But Sophia did not envision any
problems. She had spoken to
Marshal again at 2am when they
were leaving Benin City, Edo
State. All was going smoothly. She
had decided to take a much
needed nap.