I was once a victim of a kidnapping, which I had never told anyone about. It happened on a Friday night; it was a night that I intended to lose my virginity because of intense peer pressure and constant ridicule. That night, I was ready to be a man.

I had just finished my secondary school education and was waiting for my WAEC results. Mark Zuckerberg had not created Facebook, and Nigerian networks were super-stingy with airtime. I also had no cellphone.

I lied to my parents that a friend invited me to a vigil program in their church, and being deeply religious, my parents eagerly gave me the permission. I found a black shirt and a black jean, and then I found a blue fez-cap. All these were to disguise my appearance.

I had heard from friends about a guesthouse which was actually a front for hookers to ply their trades. These same friends had told me that the hookers charge a thousand naira for an hour. I saved my pocket money for a whole month.

I was feeling excited, anxious and scared at the same time. Our pastor had warned us that fornication was a sin; our biology teacher told us that AIDs could be transmitted through sex, bla bla bla, but I needed to get rid of my virginity and become a man.

I boarded an Okada to the guesthouse and I alighted a few feet to the gate; I wanted to reconnoiter. There were traders and hawkers in the area, and I diligently scanned each face to make sure none of our church members was there. You know how good in gossiping people are.

The lights from generators around helped me to scan the faces carefully. When I was sure that I knew no one there and vice versa, I walked calmly towards the gate. The guesthouse was about twenty feet from the gate, and I could hear music playing.

I had hardly taken about four steps when three men jumped in front of me; they surrounded me quickly. My thoughts were that the men were hoodlums who were trying to collect everything I had on me.

I glanced at the inviting guesthouse, and thought about the beautiful ladies waiting for me inside- waiting to make me a man, and here were three men trying to stop me achieving my goal. That devil is a liar. My mind went to physics I began to calculate the distance from the gate to the safety of the guesthouse, and the time taken to reach my destination; and how my velocity and acceleration will work together. I needed a force to produce a momentum.

I kicked the man in front of me. The kick landed directly on that precious organ that men never joked with; the man screamed and crumpled to the ground. As I made to jump over and run to my beautiful ladies, something hard landed at the back of my head. I actually saw stars dancing Azonto and the far away guesthouse turned upside down, and that was the last thing I saw.

When I came to, I found myself tied to a tree in a forest; the ropes were tied around me and around the tree. There were about ten other people of different ages and genders tied to different trees. A few feet away, I saw skulls, and some hideous body parts, scattered on the ground; around them was blood. I wanted to faint right there; I had been kidnapped by ritualists. I began to cry. I didn’t sign up for this.

All I wanted was to lose my virginity. Was that a crime? I wondered what the time was, and what my parents would be thinking. I am a victim of a kidnapping.

“This one don wake up o,” one of the men said. He had a big gun. The name of the gun didn’t matter; a gun is a gun. “Aww, he is crying,” the foolish man said again.

“Why won’t I cry?” I wanted to scream, but I kept quiet. They may need something from me right? After all, I wasn’t dead yet.

“Good. Now we can begin,” a man said, apparently their leader. “Cut off the heads of those who are not virgins, and bring the virgins to me.”

The people tied to the trees began to cry and wail; I cried harder. There were cries of ‘Shut up! Shut it!’ by the gun-wielding men.

A man walked gingerly to me. He looked angry and had a smirk on his face, and then I realized he was the one I had kicked beside the guesthouse. Was I to be the first to die? I cried harder. Then I remembered something.

As the man lifted his machete I screamed, “Wait! I am a virgin!”

The man paused, looking confused, and then he laughed. His friends joined him. “Who are you deceiving?” he asked.

“I swear to Almighty God. I am a virgin,” I said desperately.

“Shut up, slowpoke,” he said. “I don’t believe you. We caught you in front of a whorehouse remember?”

“Yes! I was trying to get rid of my virginity.”

“How can a fine boy like you still be a virgin?”

“My parents are too strict, and I didn’t have the opportunity, until you kidnapped me.”

The man lowered the machete. “Let’s assume I believe you. You are going to be used for rituals anyway.” I began to cry again.

The man walked up to me and began to untie the rope. I saw that everyone else was busy with whatever they were doing. I scanned the bushes behind me.

Perhaps, they led to an expressway or something. The men had guns and could shoot me, but they were going to kill me anyway. It was a gamble, and the opportunity was NOW!

I kicked the same man in the same spot just as the rope came off my body, and I dived into the bush. As he went down, I could hear him screaming, “Again! Again! He has killed me again! My thing don spoil o.” I heard shouts behind me. Let’s just say the man would think twice before kidnapping anyone next time.

Something fast and hot zinged past my ear, and Oh My God, that was a bullet, I thought. I dived down and began to crawl desperately as bullets tore apart the trees, leaves and woods above my head. I remembered all the war movies I had watched and how people had died in them. I didn’t want to die.

I changed my direction, as bullets flew past me. I heard someone, probably their leader scream, “Separate! Separate! He must not escape o.” I was getting tired, so when I saw a tall tree with many branches in front of me, I quickly climbed it. If they caught me here, I was ready to say my last prayer. Perhaps, I will go to heaven after all.

Soon, three men walked towards my tree, and with my breath held, I prayed they wouldn’t look up. One of them said he wanted to pee, and the others moved on. I cursed the one who decided to pee as he peed against my tree. When guys peed, most times, they were in the habit of looking up at the sky as if to make sure no bird was peeping at them. I hoped this guy was not the same.

Then I remembered a movie Arnold Schwarzenegger had starred in: Commando. In the movie, he had jumped on top of two men and beaten them up (His daughter had been a kidnapping victim too) I had a feeling I could do the same and get this man’s gun, and escape. I counted to five and jumped on top of his head; he made a grunting sound.

As we both landed on the ground, I jumped up quickly and walked towards him. His gun had fallen away. He tried to stand up but I kicked him hard on his cheekbones; he fell back, unconscious. I picked up his gun and scanned the bushes.

I had never fired a gun, but the countless movies I had watched showed that I just had to pull the trigger, and may God help anyone who stood in my way. I followed the path of the two men.

I saw them walking carelessly with no attempt to mask their approach, probably confident that their guns would be more than enough for a puny boy. I held the muzzle of the gun in my hand and hefted it like a club. I walked quietly behind them, making sure to avoid stepping on twigs, and fallen branches.

When I was close to them, I swung the gun at the back of one’s head and before he fell down, I reversed my wrist and swung the gun into the face of the other, who was just turning to me. I heard the crack of bones. Thankfully, they made no noise. Three down.

Suddenly, four men appeared in front of me, wild eyed. As they raised their guns, I ran towards them and somersaulted through the air; bullets flew under me, and I landed behind them. One of them turned and swung his gun at my face. I blocked his swing with my gun and punched him with my free hand. I turned and round-kicked the man on the right, and he flew back to crash against a tree.

The man on my left punched my face, but I dodged and his punch landed on his friend’s face. I grabbed him by his waist, fell back and threw him over and behind me. I ran.

Two men were running towards me with knives in their hands. I somersaulted through the air and kicked them on their faces. When I landed, I saw a high kick moving towards my head. I dodged again, turned under the kick and buried my fist in the fellow’s stomach. Their leader pointed his gun at me and began to shoot. I did a cartwheel and landed on a gun. I didn’t want to kill a fellow human being, so I did a backflip and shot the man in the legs. I threw away the gun and ran again.

I ran into an expressway and almost got hit by a van. Hallelujah, it was owned by the police.

I screamed, “Kidnappers! Kidnappers!”

The policemen jumped out of their van just as the kidnappers appeared. I dived under the van as both sides exchanged gunfire. Bullets flew every which way.

Ten of the kidnappers were killed that day (their kidnapping days were over), while only one policeman was wounded. The other kidnapping victims were rescued, and the policemen commended me for my bravery. I found out that I was in a town in Osun State.

The Commissioner of Police gave me a medal, and when journalists came, I begged them not to include my name in the news about the kidnapping.

I was driven back to Ibadan in a beautiful Mercedes, and since then, I never tried to get rid of my virginity anymore. Who knew what would happen the next time?

Source: https://opinionsandstories.com/my-kidnapping-experience/

Story Story.... Story. Once upon a time. Time.... Time..... Time..........