*** AN EPIPHANY, IF YOU LIKE ***
It was an exceptionally busy day. The banking hall was full and a few customers even had to stand outside. This was a typical scenario whenever students were going home on vacation. They all came to withdraw their transport fares. The few who had ATM debit cards were the lucky ones because the queues at the machines were shorter and moved faster. Better still, it took less time to complete transactions.
To make matters worse, the split unit air conditioning systems had packed up; the last of them, just the week before. The crowd that afternoon was one impatient, sweating mass of people.
So it was quite understandable that John Akporoghene was in a foul state of mind. But that was not the only reason why.
He had been writing his first semester 300 level examinations over the past week and they were not the best exams he had written in his short sojourn on the planet.
Then there was the issue of his transport fare to Warri. It would cost him 4,500NGN to get to Warri and he had 5,000NGN in his account. However, the bank had a nasty habit of deducting 600NGN as transaction charges every month. He hoped they had not done that already. Travelling from Abuja to Warri on an empty stomach was bad; but being stranded without transport fare? He didn't even want to think about it.
It was also understandable that Sanni Mai-Angwa,a day guard at the bank was not in his best of moods. His job became a whole lot more difficult during these periods when the bank was crowded. There were two other day guards but Sanni had been on the job for eight years. So in a way, you could say he was head of security. He had to make sure every customer entering the bank was frisked with a metal detector. He also had to make sure those customers who came in cars were parked properly and he had to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
Emeka Obazie had been branch manager for three months and this was the first time he was experiencing the end of semester rush. Already, he was beginning to feel the strain. Previously, he had been in the Maitama branch of the bank where there was virtually no commercial banking. All the customers he had handled before now were people who had platinum master cards, members of the mile high club, men who had cash delivered to them in their homes and offices by bullion vans. Now he was here in Gwagwalada where even fish selling market women demanded to be accorded the respect due customers. But he could deal with that because he was on his way up the corporate ladder. Back in Maitama, he had been a banking officer; and here he was, a branch manager. He considered all the stress a necessary part of his climb to the top. After all, nothing good came easy.
John Akporoghene was at the counter just about then. The last thought that had crossed his mind before the cashier told him he didn't have enough in his account to withdraw the amount he wanted, was that he should have checked his account balance first.
''I'm sorry but you have to withdraw a lesser amount'', the cashier was saying.
John knew this wasn't going to be an easy one, but he wasn't going to go back on his personal motto; ''Warri boy no dey carry last!'' (Boys from the town of Warri in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria can never be cheated)
''Madam you see ehn, (ehn is a word used in Nigerian English for emphasis) I need the money for an emergency and any amount less than that just won't do'', he started. ''You really have to help me here''.
''I'd really love to help, but I’m just doing my job'', she replied.
It was at that moment that John had what he later told his friends was the best idea he had ever come up with in a tight spot. An epiphany, if you like.
''Okay, I want to close the account''.
The cashier at first did not understand exactly what he meant.
''You want to do what?'', she asked.
''I said I want to close the account''. ''Now'', he added for emphasis.
''Well, I’m sorry I can't help you with that right now''.
''I'm asking for my money, and you are telling me you can't help me with that right now? Who put you in a position to decide when I can or can't have my money?''
''Look young man, there are channels you have to go through. I can't just count out money and hand it to you over the counter because you want to close your account. It’s not done that way''.
''I want my money now oh! And I don't want to hear anything about channels'', John said, beginning to raise his voice. ''Just give me my money right now. Do I have to go and see your board of directors before I can get my money?''.
Sanni was at the door at that moment and he heard John arguing with the cashier. This was a scenario he had to handle every time the bank was full of students. They always had one problem or the other which they expected the cashier to be able to deal with over the counter. They never seemed to understand that some of these problems were administrative ones. This was only going to take a moment. All he had to do was calm the young man down and get him to agree to see someone in administration. Personally, he would kick them out of the premises, but the manager had this principle of making sure the customers were always shown respect.
''Kai ! Aboki ! (Hey! Young man!) Na wetin dey haffun por hia ?” (What is going on here?) Sanni asked John in his heavily accented mix of Hausa and broken English.
''This is none of your business'', John replied.
Yes, Sanni thought; they were also very arrogant, disrespectful and full of self-importance.
''Any frovlem wen you get, na only oga por inside go pit helf you'' (Whatever the problem is, only the boss inside can help you) Sanni tried another approach.
''Look, just leave me alone. I am not going to see any oga (boss) inside. I just want my money right now''.
John looked around and noticed that a few people were beginning to look in their direction. That was good. All he had to do was cause enough trouble to embarrass the bank. Then they would want to solve his problem just to get rid of him. There was always the possibility that they would get him arrested, but that was a chance he was willing to take. After all what he was doing could not exactly be called a criminal offense.
***IN THE BEGINNING***
The night before the operation, Johnny was nervous. It was only his second time out with the guys. The first had not been an experience he would want to relive.
He had been shot at and Hakeem had been killed on that day. Marcus had told him it was just part of the hazards one had to face on the job. He would give anything for the opportunity to get drunk, but Marcus had strictly told him when he first joined the gang that there was to be no drinking, snorting or smoking the night before an operation. He looked at the bedside clock next to him and saw that it was 2 a.m. He lay there staring at it and then his mind began to drift.
He was just nine when his father died. He saw it all flash before him; his mom passing out when his uncle had broken the news to her, the endless days of tears and having to finally stop school a year and a half later. After dropping out, he had gotten menial jobs to help support his mum and his baby sister, Karen. Karen had continued schooling up till her fourth year in Secondary School when she had been impregnated by a boy in his final year in the same school. Johnny remembered waiting for the boy on his usual route back home from school; beating him up so badly he had passed out and continuously stepping on his face until he thought he heard something crack. He hadn’t gone back home for a whole week. And when he finally did, his mom had told him with tears that the boy had died the day before and that the cops had come looking for him. He left home that night and he had not returned since.
The last image he saw in his flashback was his mum’s crying face, and then he was finally asleep.
***STOP THIEF!!! ***
Three and a half hours later, he was awake. He took a quick shower and had three slices of bread and a glass of water. He went back into his room after breakfast and opened his closet. He took out both boxes lying on the floor of the closet and moved aside the wooden panel. In the space below was a flat metal box. He took it out, laid it on the bed, and opened it up.
Inside it were two guns; a Makarov SP Pistol and an AR15 assault rifle. He reached into the box and as he pulled out the assault rifle the irony of it all struck him. Back when he was a kid, he used to play a game called ‘’Police and Thief’’ with his friends and everyone always wanted to be on the police side. Now, here he was being a real life robber. Again he flashed back and this time, it was to the day he had met Marcus.
It was about a month and a half after he had run away from home. He had taken odd jobs to keep body and soul together until finally, he had ended up as a bus conductor for a guy who ran the Ojuelegba-Ketu route in Lagos. He would work till 9pm and then sleep in the bus when it was finally parked in Ojuelegba till the next morning. There was a public bathroom in the park where he took his bath; and what little possession he had, was in the trunk of the bus in a plastic bag.
That night, he had just laid down when he heard gunshots. At first they sounded distant. A few minutes later, he heard the shots again. This time, they sounded really close. Then he heard footsteps. Someone was running in his direction, and then he heard other footsteps right behind the first. His first thought was to keep quiet and lie very still. After all, this was Lagos, and poking your nose where it didn’t belong especially in the middle of the night could get you killed.
Then he heard footsteps. Someone was running in his direction, and then he heard other footsteps right behind the first. His first thought was to keep quiet and lie very still. After all, this was Lagos, and poking your nose where it didn’t belong especially in the middle of the night could get you killed.
He had decided he wouldn’t move and just let whoever it was run past him when the door of the bus swung open. That was the moment he had met Marcus and that was when his life changed forever.
Marcus had climbed into the bus and held a knife to his throat, threatening to kill him if he so much as made a sound. They had both lain on the floor of the bus until Marcus’ pursuers were gone. A few minutes after the last footsteps had receded, Marcus climbed down from the bus, smiled at him and thanked him for saving his life. He pulled out a wad of 1000 Naira notes and tossed them at him calm as you like, as if he did not just threaten to slit his throat. That was the first and last he saw of Marcus until their paths crossed three months later.
***PROBLEM SOLVED***
Emeka had just finished talking to one of the branch’s high net worth customers and was walking him to the door of his office when he saw the commotion at the counter. At that point it had deteriorated into a three sided shouting match between Sanni, John and the cashier. Emeka put on his ‘’how-may-I-help-you-today’’ smile and walked to the counter.
‘’Hello young man, I’m the manager of this branch. My name is Emeka. It seems you have a problem they haven’t been able to help you with, right?’’, he said to John. ‘’I most certainly do’’, John threw back at him. ‘’I don’t understand why you charge me for everything and when I ask for my money all this young lady can tell me is that there are procedures to follow to get my own money. Please just close the account and give me my money right now’’.
Emeka turned his smile up a few watts. ‘’You don’t have to close your account. I’m sure we can work something out. Please come into my office’’. Emeka walked John to his office and after offering him a seat, brought out a bottle of wine from the refrigerator beside his desk and poured a glass for him. ‘’You know, we don’t just close accounts like that. There’s a lot of paper work to be done and we also have to explain to our head office why the account was closed. They see it as a failure to properly manage our customers and that doesn’t look good on my appraisal’’. The minute John heard that, he knew he had leverage. Maybe it was only a little but he was going to hold on to it with all he had.
‘’Well, the only thing I am interested in now is the fact that I don’t have enough money to go home’’, John said sipping from his glass of wine and trying to look as gloomy as possible. ‘’How much will it cost you to get home?’’, Emeka asked. ‘’Five thousand Naira’’. Emeka reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a bundle of notes. He counted out five thousand naira and handed them over to John. ‘’I’ll just instruct the cashier to debit your account for the 4,400 Naira you have. Have a wonderful trip back home and enjoy your holidays’’. Emeka leaned across his desk to shake hands with John and that was when all hell broke loose.
***MAYHEM! ***
Sanni had left the banking hall and was back outside supervising the parking of vehicles when he saw the tinted Peugeot 406 salon car. At first, he thought it was a government official because it didn’t have any number plates. He started to walk towards the car. These government people had money and they liked it when you deferred to them. The last thought that crossed his mind was that he could probably get a very good tip if he played his cards right. He was only about two meters from the car when the back door on the passenger’s side opened and the young man with the AR15 assault rifle stepped out. The bullets threw him halfway across the parking lot and he was dead before he hit the ground.
There was a space of about three seconds when time seemed to stand still and then it was utter mayhem. The customers at the ATM scattered in different directions all screaming and shouting and falling over one another. The man with the gun turned and fired at them as they ran away. Three of those running were hit in the head and died instantly a few more were wounded and lay on the ground moaning or screaming. One man had his intestines hanging out and was still crawling along the ground trying to get away. One of the two remaining guards was trying to scale the fence when the gunman turned and sprayed a volley of shots into his back. He flipped from the wall like a rag doll and fell face down on the other side of the fence. He twitched a couple of times and then stopped moving.
The mobile policeman attached to the branch was at the back having lunch under the shade of a tree when he heard the first shots. He grabbed his rifle and dove for cover behind the branch’s bullion van which was parked next to where he was sitting. He crawled from there to the wall from where he could see what was happening in front.
The scene that greeted him made him sick to his stomach. There were four men and a woman all armed with high powered rifles walking towards the entrance of the branch. They stopped briefly and spoke in low tones and then two of the men began to walk towards him, while one of the others put a bullet in the head of a customer who had been shot in the stomach and was crawling with his intestines hanging out trying to get away. It dawned on him they were going to block off the rear exit. He scrambled away from his position behind the wall, sprinted for the fence at the back and vaulted over it without breaking stride. There was nothing he could do here on his own and he dared not use his radio to call in for help for fear that they might hear him. He just hoped the situation did not deteriorate any further before he got help.
John was reaching out his hand to shake Emeka when he heard the first few shots go off. When the screaming and shouting started he immediately knew it was a robbery. It dawned on him that he had to get out of the branch manager’s office. He was most likely the first person the robbers would look for when they got into the bank. He ran out of the office and into the banking hall. Some of the customers were already lying flat on their faces with their hands over their heads. He was just going to do the same when there was a deafening explosion and the security doors erupted in flames and tangled metal.
John looked up and through all the smoke and debris saw a woman lowering a rocket propelled grenade launcher. His next thought was a prayer. ‘’Baba God, abeg I no wan die today’’ (Dear God, please I don’t want to die today)
***ENCOUNTER***
It had been 3 months since the man who had hid in his bus had given him a bundle of money.
Johnny had counted the notes the strange man who had threatened to kill him had tossed at him.
A Hundred Thousand Naira! It was too good to be true!
The next day, he went to get a room in a block of rooms close to the park. It cost him 40,000 Naira for a year. He also bought a 6 spring mattress and some cooking utensils. He had to share a communal toilet and bath but it was a small price to pay for finally being able to get a roof over his head. As far as he was concerned, he was living like a king compared to where he was just the day before. He still had 35,000 Naira left so he went to open an account with it. It was the first account he ever opened and it felt good. For the first time since he had run away from home, he actually felt as if he was making progress of a sort.
Now three months after he opened the account, he had 120,000 Naira. He had gotten into the habit of saving a portion of what he got from his job as a conductor weekly.
He had gone to make another deposit and was walking out of the bank thinking of all the things he could do with the money he now had and any more he would be able to save when he bumped into someone. He had been daydreaming and wasn’t looking where he was going. When he looked up and saw who it was he had bumped into, he felt such a mix of emotions it felt as if his heart was going to explode. It was the man who had hid in his bus that night 3 months ago. At first he was just surprised, and then fear settled in when the memory of all that had happened that night came flooding back. The people chasing this man who was now smiling at him had been shouting Ole! Ole! Ole! (Thief! Thief! Thief!). He started to walk past praying he had not recognized him when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“You are the guy who hid me in your bus, aren’t you?” he asked. “Walk with me. I need to talk to you”. He had been going into the bank but now he turned and headed towards the gate in the same direction Johnny was going.
“You got me out of a really tight spot that day”, he was saying. To Johnny everything was happening in slow motion. He considered making a break for it and then thought of kneeling and asking that the man not kill him. He thought of a thousand other things he could do all of which involved getting as far away from that spot as possible.
“My name is Marcus”, he was saying, “and I would like to show some appreciation for your help”. He had that disarming smile on his face again.
“It’s alright sir. What you gave me the other time sir, was more than enough sir”, Johnny stammered and then realized how foolish he must have sounded saying sir so many times in one sentence. He had also begun to sweat profusely. He kept on walking by Marcus’ side as he walkedtowards a Mercedes Benz SLR.
Marcus kept on walking towards his car as though he had not heard what Johnny said. He walked to the front passenger door, opened it and looked around in the glove compartment for a while.
When he looked back up, Johnny saw that he had a wad of notes in his hands.
Dollar notes.
He had stared at the notes for a full minute before he realized that Marcus was talking.
“…just a little something extra to show you how much I appreciate what you did for me the other time”, he was saying.
Everything inside of him was screaming for him not to take the money but Johnny saw himself stretching out his hands to collect it from Marcus.
Looking back now, he always thought that was the moment when he crossed a line he never had any business being close to in the first place. He still wondered what would have happened if he had turned down Marcus’ offer that day and had just walked away. But he would never know.
Marcus had written an address down on a piece of paper and asked him to come and visit that weekend.
“I’m a very busy man and I don’t have much time on my hands”, he had said, “and I need you to help me run some errands”.
Instinctively, Johnny was going to say his boss wouldn’t let him off work but then it occurred to him that with the money Marcus had given him, he never again had to work as a conductor. He did the figures in his head and came up with over 1.5million naira. He felt weak in the knees. A million and a half was more money than he had seen his entire life!
***NEW RECRUIT***
Johnny was done polishing his Makarov SP Pistol and was half way through with the AR15 assault rifle when Marcus and the rest of the boys showed up. He glanced at his watch and saw it was 11am. Marcus was always a stickler for punctuality. He had scheduled the hit on the bank for noon. They had agreed to rendezvous at Johnny’s place because the bank was about 30 minutes away from Johnny’s house. They would spend 30 minutes tying up any loose ends in their plans.
At 11:30am, they left the house in two cars, a Peugeot 406 and Toyota 4runner Jeep. As they drove to the bank, Johnny looked around the car. He was sitting in the back on the passenger side of the Peugeot and Jenny was driving. She had been a hooker on the streets of Abuja before she met Marcus. She had a level headedness that even Marcus confessed scared him sometimes. Marcus always told Johnny about the time when an op went terribly wrong. Marcus had been shot and their escape plan had gone up in smoke. The rest of the guys had panicked but Jenny had maintained her cool and gotten them all out of a situation that could have cost them their lives.
Jamiu was in front with Jenny. He was literally a monster and Johnny was always careful not to get him angry. At 6 feet 8 inches, skin the colour or burnt clay, with rippling muscles and a slight stoop, he reminded Johnny of an enraged bull about to charge. His reputation for viciousness was well known and whenever Marcus needed to “strong-arm” anyone, he always got Jamiu involved.
Dare who was beside Johnny in the back was the complete opposite of Jamiu. He was soft spoken and the voice of reason whenever tempers were flaring. It still baffled Johnny that a man like Dare could end up an armed bandit. Thinking about it, it occurred to him that Dare had never fired a single shot on any of their Ops or even exhibited any show of force.
Marcus was in the 4runner Jeep with Chinedu who was next in the line of command after him. He was a kind of consigliere for the gang. He was Marcus’ right hand man and he was the one with a head for business. He knew everyone there was to know and had all the right connections. Marcus always used to say Chinedu could find you an amala (local Yoruba* meal made from Yam flour) joint on the moon in just one hour of his arriving there. He was the kind of guy who could get you anything; the kind who always knew somebody that knew somebody.
As they got closer to the bank, Johnny got tense. It always happened before they were to make any hit. His mouth went dry and he started to sweat in his palms. He could feel his heart pounding and soon, it was the only thing he was aware of. He could hear the thump of his heart beating as loud as if he had a stethoscope to his chest. He looked around again and everything was a haze. Jenny was talking to Jamiu who was laughing. She must have told a joke or said something funny because Jamiu was laughing but to Johnny it sounded like he was hearing Jamiu’s from under water.
He blinked, trying to clear his head but when he opened his eyes he was back in time on the day of his first errand for Marcus.
The Saturday after he had run into Marcus at the bank, he had gone to look for the address Marcus had written down on the piece of paper for him. It was off Bourdillon road in Ikoyi and very easy to find. He had stood in front of the house for nearly ten minutes, afraid to knock. He had never seen a house so big all his life. Finally, he had summoned enough courage to walk up to the gate and ring the bell. The guard who opened the gate had asked him to wait when he had told him his name and that he was there to see Marcus. About five minutes later, the guard had returned and taken him into the house.
When he stepped into the house, his jaw had literally hung open. Never in his life had he seen such opulence and display of wealth. Marcus welcomed him with his usual disarming smile which Johnny was beginning to get used to and slapped him on the back.
“I see you came”, he said, “That’s good because I have something for you to do for me right now and it’s urgent. You just saved me the trouble of having to find someone to do it for me”.
Half an hour later, Johnny was on his way to Ojota in a cab. Marcus needed him to pick up a refrigerator from a friend. It was an easy enough errand to run because the address had been easy to find and Marcus’ friend had been waiting. When he got back, Marcus had thanked him and they had talked extensively. He had asked a lot of questions. Was Johnny still sleeping at the motor park? Did he have family? Were they in Lagos? He had wanted to know everything.
Johnny was brought back to the present by Dare’s hand on his shoulder. They had arrived at the bank and were just pulling into the parking lot. Johnny released the safety from his AR15 assault rifle as the car came to a stop. The guard who was parking cars for customers started to walk towards Johnny’s side of the car. Johnny took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and shot the guard. The customers who were at the ATM started screaming and running, trying to get away from him. He turned in their direction and fired a volley of shots into the crowd. He saw a guard trying to jump over the wall. He shot the man in the back and saw him topple from the fence. Just then, Marcus and Chinedu pulled into the parking lot in the 4runner jeep. Marcus remained in the car while Chinedu joined them as they walked towards the entrance of the bank. This was always Marcus’ way. He always used to say, “Strike fear into the hearts of people and no one would be dumb or brave enough to do anything stupid until you were done with a hit”
Jenny was already at the entrance of the bank. Johnny saw her go down on one knee and aim the rocket propelled grenade launcher she was carrying at the security door and the next instant the whole door went up in flames.
When the dust settled, there was a big hole where the security door was. Jenny stepped into the banking hall with Johnny and Jamiu right behind her while Dare and Chinedu headed for the rear of the building to secure any exits after reminding the other members of the team to give the signal when they were done. Johnny heard a groan behind him and turned to see one of the customers he had shot trying to crawl away clutching his intestines which were hanging out of his abdomen. Jamiu heard it too because he turned around, leveled his gun at the man and ended his misery once and for all.
***ON THE FLOOR EVERY ONE! THIS IS A ROBBERY!!! ***
Johnny stepped over the pile of rubble that was the door of the branch into the banking hall. Everyone in the hall were already lying face down with their hands over their head. This was going to be an easy one.
Dare had been to the bank the day before to get a layout of the place. The branch manager’s office was the last door on the left. Johnny made straight for it.
Emeka had already pressed the emergency panic button which was linked to an alarm in the closest Police Station located about four kilometers away from the branch when the young man with the automatic rifle walked into his office. He had heard the explosion and knew they had gotten into the branch by using some sort of explosive. Now he could hear a female voice issuing instructions to the staff and customers in the banking hall.
“….lie on the floor with your hands behind your head. Do not look up and keep your mouths shut…”
“…key to the vault…” It took Emeka a few seconds to realize that the man in his office was talking to him. He was in a daze. He wasn’t really afraid even. All he could think about was how this was going to affect his career. He was thinking of the suspicions of him being an accomplice, the investigations, the psychological torture and uncertainty of the next few months of his life.
“Where is the key to the vault?” the young man asked again. “It’s in the upper drawer of my desk”, Emeka answered.
“Toss it to me”. Emeka did as he was asked and the young man snatched the key from the air.
“We know you’ve contacted the police”, he said with a smile on his way out of the office, “But don’t worry. We’ll be gone long before they get here”. “And please remain in your office, if you’d be so kind”, he added.
***NO HEROES HERE TODAY MA’AM***
John Akporoghene saw the man who had gone into the manager’s office walk out. He signaled to the lady who was with them and she joined him as they both headed towards what John guessed was the vault. About three minutes later, another explosion rocked the building. Somebody screamed in the banking hall and the man who stood sentry over repeated the warning to keep their mouths shut.
John realized his hands were shaking. He hadn’t seen the robbers harm anybody yet, but from the gunshots he had heard when he was in the manager’s office, he was sure they had most likely killed a few people. He tried to calm his thoughts but the fear he felt was making that impossible. And the day had been going so well. And then out of nowhere comes this madness.
After what seemed like an eternity, John heard the man and the lady who had gone to the vault returning. He tried looking up without raising his head and saw that they were both dragging a couple of black bags; kind of like the type you took out trash in. She had four and he had five. They both had their weapons slung across their backs.
He quickly looked down when the woman started to look his way. He wasn’t planning on getting shot in a robbery. It wasn’t on his list of things to do before he turned forty. The man headed for the door while the lady stopped just beside John. For a moment, he thought she had seen him looking at them but she just looked around the room and then headed for the door. She stopped at the door and said, “I hope no one plans on being a hero here today? If any one does, I have just the thing for them”. She laughed as if to a private joke only her understood and continued, “It was nice doing business with you ladies and gentlemen. Have a nice day and please do not move for the next thirty minutes. I’m sure by then the cops will be here”.
A few moments later John heard three piercing whistles. He guessed it was some kind of signal. A while after that, he heard more shots being fired and the sound of tires spinning on gravel. It occurred to him that he still had not heard any sirens but then it had been barely fifteen minutes from when he heard the first shots go off.
***BACKUP? ***
Andrew Okulobia was panting so hard he thought his heart was going to burst. There had been more gunshots after he had vaulted over the rear fence of the branch followed a while later by an explosion. As he ran, he saw other people running for cover too all around the branch.
The Police Station was four kilometers away and he had to get there very quickly. He was sure the branch manager had activated the silent alarm in his office already, but it wouldn’t do to have his people come into a dangerous situation blindly. He had an idea of the number of people involved and what type of weapons they had and he had to get that information to his colleagues as soon as possible.
He looked around and saw a man trying to start up a motorcycle.
“Sir, I need you to take me to the Police Station right now”, he said walking up to the man.
“Ok”, the man said. Andrew could see it in his eyes. The fear and the fact that he wanted to get as far away from the gunshots as possible. He knew the only reason the man had agreed was because of his uniform.
Four minutes later, they were at the Station.
Andrew was surprised to see that all the vehicles were still parked and he didn’t see any squad preparing for an operation. Maybe the branch manager had not been able to activate the silent alarm.
He headed straight for the Divisional Head’s office and was even more surprised to see he was having lunch. He was having his usual pounded yam and vegetable soup with bush meat
“Ah! Andrew!” he bellowed as Andrew stepped into the office, “Come chop” (Please join me).
“Thank you sir”, Andrew answered.
Divisional Police Officer Akoji Abutu was six feet five inches tall and built like an NFL Quarterback. One look at him and you could tell he had been an athlete when he was younger but he had let himself go over the years. He now had a gut that folded over his belt whenever he had to tuck his shirt into his trousers. He was almost always eating and his capacity for beer and Nkwobi consumption was legendary.
Add to his size a voice that would put any parade ground sergeant to shame and you had one very intimidating, larger than life personality. On some days, his voice could be heard all around the office complex when he was screaming at an officer who had done something wrong or laughing at a joke someone told (most of the time though, he was laughing at his own jokes but none of the officers had ever worked up the nerve to tell him that they were not particularly funny).
“Aren’t you supposed to be on duty at the bank? What are you doing back here?” he asked Andrew.
Andrew quickly told him what had happened and asked if the silent alarm at the branch had been activated. By the time Andrew finished, Akoji had pushed his food aside and washed his hands.
When Andrew asked about the silent alarm, he slowly sat up in his chair and leaned forward with his elbows on his desk.
“Andrew, you know say e get something wen I dey always tell you for this Station”, he began (Andrew, you know there’s something I always say to you). “You suppose don know how things be for this country but you go wan dey form champion every time” (You should know how things are in this country, yet you always insist on being a hero).
Andrew could not believe what he was hearing. He had always been a lone figure in the fight for truth and best practices on the job. Many a time, he had been bullied into compromise by his superiors but those had not been situations where people were being killed and several other lives were at stake. The alarm had actually been activated and nothing was being done about it.
“Oga (Boss)”, he said struggling to keep the anger he felt under control. “I saw them shoot a man in cold blood and they had killed several others before that. If we no do anything, dem fit kill everybody when dey that bank today (If we don’t do anything, they may very well kill every single person in that bank today).
“So you want make we go so that them go kill us join (So you want us to go there and get killed too)?” Akoji threw back at him. “We no dey go that bank today. If you wan form superman, only you fit go back there(We are not going to that bank. If you want to be a hero, you can go back alone). And what makes you think they’ll still be there before we get there? If they are as professional as you say they are, then they are most likely done with the operation and well on their way. What those people need now are ambulances and body bags. Not policemen”
Andrew felt like pulling out his sidearm and shooting his Divisional Head between the eyes. This was an outrage! How could he call himself a law enforcement officer and sit back and do nothing while innocent people were slaughtered like animals?
Andrew pushed back his chair, got up and walked out of the office. He knew it was going to be his word against the whole Station if he decided to report what had just happened. Akoji had all the officers under his thumb and they would back him up when push came to shove.
As Andrew walked out of that office, he knew his time with the Station was done. He was going to get a transfer.
Updated June 2nd, 2015 7:34am (GMT+1)
Johnny watched buildings and cars speed by from the back seat of the Peugeot.
It was another successful hit. But deep within Johnny, something didn't feel right. This was the same feeling he had been having for months.
He began to question the point of the life he was living a few months ago. It was frustrating because he couldn't talk to any of the members of the gang about his misgivings. He couldn't have Marcus question his loyalty. That was as good as pronouncing his death sentence himself. He had his doubts but he did not want to die just yet.
And then he couldn't talk to just anyone about it.
He had more blood on his hands than he cared to think about. He had killed so many people that he had lost count. He had even killed children. Children! How did I come this far?
Killing the boy who got his sister pregnant all those years ago had been a mistake, but every life he had taken after that had taken him further down the dark path he now walked.
He had been running errands for Marcus for four months before he found out who Marcus really was. By then, he knew he was already in too deep to get out. And the money was good too.
He had moved out of his single room into a two bedroom apartment in Aguda, Surulere and had saved a million Naira. Finding out he was hanging out with and running errands for a criminal mastermind was scary but he knew he never wanted to go back to being a bus conductor. So he had kept on gun-running and serving as a go-between for the gang.
His first time out on a hit had been an assassination. Their target was a high profile business man whose business partners wanted dead. It had something to do with him not wanting to sell his shares in one of his companies. As a rule, Marcus never asked for details except when he felt he and his people could be put at risk by not knowing all there was to know about a job.
Johnny had just gotten back from another run when Marcus took him aside.
He remembered very vividly the first words Marcus had said to him.
“I finally trust you enough for you to be one of us”
It had been a shock. He never imagined his involvement with the gang would go beyond him moving guns for them. He remembered the fear he had felt. He knew he was stepping into something he could never again walk out of. He also knew that saying no to Marcus would have cost him his life. He already knew too much.
So he smiled and thanked Marcus and told him how happy he was to finally be one of them.
He was the lookout and getaway driver for that night. They parked their van across the road from the target’s house and waited till he drove in at about 10pm. The van was plain with the mirrors tinted over and the streets were virtually empty so no one had noticed them. Marcus, Jenny and Dare were in the back of the van and if anyone had bothered to look closely enough, they would have seen only Johnny sitting in the car.
Five minutes after the target drove in, Marcus tapped the partition between the front compartment and the rear of the van thrice. That was the signal to tell Johnny they were going in. He watched them walk up to the gate and knock, saw the guard fall as Marcus shot him in the head with his suppressed Ruger MK III and then set his watch timer for seven minutes. That was how long Marcus had estimated the job would take.
Johnny was so nervous he almost didn't notice the man who had jumped over the fence of the house. Whoever it was had sprained an ankle coming over the fence and was limping as fast as he could away from the house in Johnny’s direction.
When the man passed under a street light, Johnny saw his face and realized it was their target. He didn't have time to wonder how he had gotten away from the guys because the gate of the closest house was a few yards from where the van was parked and Johnny knew that once the man got there their operation was up in smoke. He took a deep breath pulled his gun out of the glove compartment and stepped out of the car.
When he saw Johnny step out of the car, the man began to wave and shout at Johnny to help him. He was saying something about calling the police when Johnny pointed his gun at his head and pulled the trigger.
He still had the gun up when Marcus ran up to him. Jenny and Dare headed straight for the van and got in. All he could remember of the next hour was Marcus taking the gun from his hand, dragging him to the van and making him get in the back with Jenny and Dare. Back at Marcus’ house, they had to drag him out of the van and into the house.
The next day Jenny, told him he had been saying over and over again “I just shot someone. I just shot a man dead” .
Jamiu laughed at him and called him a baby for weeks after but Marcus had sat with him when he was finally calm enough to understand anything that was being said to him.
“I remember the first time I took a man’s life”, he had said. “It felt like I had crossed a line human beings were never meant to cross. Even though I had done it in self-defense, I was in shock for days”. He put a hand on Johnny’s shoulder and smiled.
“I understand perfectly well how you feel and I can assure you this feeling will pass”.
He was right. The feeling had passed but the nightmares had come in their place.
He knew the nightmares would come again that night. He had come to accept them as penance for all the wrong he had done but that didn't make them any easier to live with.
***A MOTHER’S PAIN***
It had been twelve years.
Twelve long years. No mother had to suffer this much.
And it was all so unfair. Whatever he had done, he had done out of love for his sister; because he wanted to protect her.
After all these years, the pain was still as fresh as it was all those years ago when her Johnny had run away from home.
She was sitting under the shade of the almond tree in front of the house. There hadn’t been power for over a week and whenever she was at home in the afternoon she would get a recliner and sit under the tree to escape the heat in the house.
She heard footsteps and looked up. It was Karen.
She had grown into a beautiful confident young woman although deep down, she still carried the scars of all they had both been through over the years.
Karen had lost the baby after 3 months and had been devastated. She refused to eat for days and had not spoken to anyone for almost a month. She missed another 3 months of school after that.
It was an uphill task to survive and there were days when they went without food. And then one day an envelope arrived in the mail. There was money in it and a letter from Johnny. He was doing fine and had started doing business in Lagos. He said he would send money every month and left an address where they could write him.
The money had kept on coming and the amount would increase every now and then. It had been enough to see Karen through school and when she graduated, Johnny insisted she get a Master’s degree. All the money in the world couldn’t take away the pain though.
The last time she wrote him, she asked if she could come and visit and he had said no in his reply. She wasn’t going to stop asking. Twelve years was too long and she really wanted to see her son again. It had been too long.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Wow, this us something! Looking forward to the end
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