Detective Kolapo knocked on the DPO’s door. “Come in,” a voice said from inside the room. Kolapo walked in. A man in uniform sat in front of the DPO. Kolapo saluted.

“Sit down, Detective,” the DPO said. Kolapo sat beside the man in uniform.

The DPO pointed at the other man. “This is Inspector Wale Bada. A woman is testifying against a powerful businessman as a witness today and she needs extra protection. They have specifically asked for you on this one.”

“Okay sir.”

“She has a son with her too, so you need to protect them both. Inspector Wale Bada will provide all the details.”

Kolapo and Wale Bada left the DPO’s office and Wale told him all he knew about the case. The woman had worked for the businessman and one day, the woman had found out about the many frauds and bribery the man had committed and even the assassinations he had sanctioned. The businessman was charged to court and the woman had documents that could indict the businessman and the assassins.

Inspector Wale Bada gave Kolapo the address of the safe house where the witness and her son were being kept. Kolapo went to the armory, changed into a shirt and jeans and picked up his pistol with bullets. He climbed his motorcycle and drove to the address given compound. The safe house was located in a small town, and not much far to the High Court.

Kolapo soon reached the safe house and from what he could see from outside, it was a fenced bungalow. The surrounding area was quiet and if not for the fact that he had been told about the safe house, he wouldn’t have believed that anyone could be in the area.

He stopped his bike in front of the gate and after waiting for almost five minutes, two armed security men walked towards him. The security men checked his ID card and waved him in. The compound was not very remarkable; it looked just like any other compound. There were six armed men in total guarding the place.

Kolapo met the witness, a beautiful woman whose name was Yetunde and her son, Timileyin. She told him all about her former boss and how he had had her husband killed because of the documents in her possession. Kolapo promised to protect her and her son.

At about 11am, three hours to the court deadline, assassins invaded the building. Kolapo was having a cup of Milo tea when he heard gunshots. Yetunde and her son were watching a movie. Kolapo ran to the window and saw a dozen armed men rushing into the compound in a coordinated movement. They gunned down the security guards of the safe house.

He looked towards the gate and saw it in shambles. The intruders must have crashed the gate with one of their vehicles or something. He knew they had to somehow leave the area immediately. He didn’t want to dwell on how the men had found them.

“Let’s go,” Kolapo ordered the woman. She grabbed her son’s hand with one hand and grabbed her purse containing the documents in the other hand. She ran after Kolapo.

The invaders surrounded the building and began to fire indiscriminately. Kolapo asked the woman and her son to crawl after him. Bullets flew over their heads and sprayed glass, papers and dust on them.

Kolapo crawled to a window that had been shattered by bullets. The window faced a smaller gate that led to the outside of the building. It was the only safe way they could follow to escape being shot. He explained his plans to the woman who nodded. Kolapo felt respect for Yetunde. If it were another woman, she would be screaming hysterically by now. He had experienced a lot of that several times. But Yetunde was calm. Of course she was scared, but she controlled it.

Kolapo tuned out the staccato of bullets and listened only to that of the shooter standing in their way. When the man’s bullets were spent and the man was trying to reload, Kolapo dived out of the room through the shattered window, shooting as he did. When he landed, he rolled forward and fired two more shots at the shooter. As the man fell, Kolapo shouted. “Move!”

The woman pushed her son out of the window and jumped after him. The three of them ran to the small gate. Kolapo shot the padlock, opened the gate and ran out. The other shooters had heard his shots. They pursued them.

Outside the compound, Kolapo saw that the street was empty except for a Toyota truck which contained two men. The next building in the area was about ten minutes away by vehicle.

Continued in the source...

Source: https://opinionsandstories.com/the-witness/