"Bros, I Just Came To Greet You"... The conversation with Ugep's J-Boy

Early Easter Sunday morning, with a shrill, my phone rang. When I took the call, my cousin at the other end of the line asked me if I was safe. Surprised, I informed her that I was safe and then went further to ask her the reason for this sort of early morning concern. In her reply, she asked me to look outside my house. Cautiously, I looked outside and saw a band of very young boys, carrying guns and several offensive weapons.

From my assessment of this band of boys, none of them appeared to have clocked 30; visibly, they were in their early to mid twenties. The six motorcycles they came in, each carried two persons plus the rider and created a cacophony of sorts as they were parked with a clear sense of disorder. Their hairstyles and looks didn't struggle to give them away as troublemakers. Each of the boys had a small weapon holding bag slung over the head and strategically hanging by the waist.

As I opened the front door of my apartment and stepped out, one of the boys with what looked like a .18 calibre automatic pistol, walked up and greeted me. He exuded that confidence synonymous with gun-carrying individuals but clearly didn't appear to be the top dog in the dog pack now before me.

The one who unmistakably came across as the top dog, wore a read t-shirt over a torn black jean and was sipping something from a bottle of Fearless. After exchanging familiar pleasantries with a couple of persons in my compound, he walked up to me and respectfully greeted me. "Bros aploká" he told me. I equally responded, exchanging what I can best say were stiff pleasantries. "Bros I heard you were around so I came to greet you. Please bros, can I have a word with you", he continued. I declined this request and asked for his phone number instead, with a promise to call him in an hour. He didn't look pleased but he accepted my decision and gave me his number.

Thereafter, he walked ten steps away from where I stood, mounted one of the bikes and left with an entourage of boys on bikes whose engines gave out bullish sounds, one after the other.

One hour after, I called Ofem Arikpo a.k.a J-Boy on the phone and he sounded very excited that I had kept to my promise. This time around, I leap frogged any pleasantries and asked why he was clearly holding his local community hostage. "Bros, I swear, I am not the cause of what is happening in Ugep; the elders and people of this town know the two persons responsible for all of this trouble. Every year, this same persons hold us hostage and the town says nothing. They loot peoples things and the town says nothing, now that we say we don't want this to continue, people are calling me all sorts of names." I am not taken in by his defence, especially when he refuses to mention the names of the two persons he has identified(?).

Additionally, I find no justification for the activities of this latter day Robin Hood.
"But you cannot be killing young people like you and claiming all of these is done in self defence". He kept quiet for some seconds before replying that, " Bros, if I loose guard, this guys go kpai me" (If I am not watchfull, these guys will call). It is a response that clearly showed me that repentance wasn't coming his way soon.

I accosted him about the robbery at the hotel opposite the Institue of Technology and Management, ITM, Ugep and the attendant fatal shooting of Emmanuel Utum Solomon, the owner of the place and he swore to high heavens that he had no hand in the robbery and death of the owner. He went on to say unprintable things about how the real killers are "chilling" while fingers were pointed at him. "Bros e no go stay, we go see who kill that bros", he insisted.

There was a veiled reference to a close friend of his in neighbouring Ediba, Abi LGA, who he normally runs to when dust gathers around him in Ugep. This friend too, appears to be the custodian, even supplier of light arms and ammunition often in J-Boy's possession.

He appeared concerned about what might happen to his parents as he threads his chosen dark path, but I just didn't feel he was 'afraid' of his parents like we normally should do and then be led away from doing evil by this 'fear'.

Let me not mention names; several prominent and not too prominent persons in the area, financially supported him. While some gave him money out of fear, others gave him money, as a wicked hobby. Those in the latter category represent for me, a treacherous bunch who want gangsterism institutionalised...let me not say too much.

Yesterday, April 21, 2020, J-Boy was killed along the ignoble path he choose, in retaliation for the shooting and eventual death of another young man in the community. Pictures of his highly mangled corpse have since hit the internet and should ideally serve to show that, like they say in local parlance, "man wey live by the sword no dey leave sword go die for kitchen knife". A very dark chapter is closed.

More photos

Lived by the sword and died by the sword. I ain't got RIP,s to waste.