The strong tide had taken the boat to some distance and they were beginning to sight from a distance, tiny things that looked like lanterns of fishing boats. Sopriala was quick to recognize the lights. He was conversant with such because it was what he grew up with.
‘Look!’ Sopriala shouted excitedly. Everyone who was brooding was awakened from their misery.
‘I see lights from fishing boats!’ he said again. ‘I think we are close to a fishing settlement.’
‘How do you know?’ a fidgety voice asked from the dark. It was Uche. He sounded like someone who would pass out in 30 seconds. He was not himself anymore; his mind was prepared for the worst. His only regret, though, was not having the opportunity to say his last goodbyes to his family and friends as well as tell them how much he loved them.
‘Of course, I know when I see one at night. They are fishing boats I can’t be mistaken’, he sounded very assuring.
‘So what do we do?’ the commanding officer asked.
‘Nothing! We wait to see if they will get closer or perhaps the tide could take us to them’.
No other person asked him further questions. They respected Sopriala for his experience so far. He has been very proactive since they got into this situation.
Sopriala was right yet again. The lights from the boats, in a matter of minutes, seemed to be closer and more visible.
‘Please, don’t put on the touch and nobody should say a word until we are very close’. Sopriala instructed and everyone obeyed. He automatically became the commanding officer for the moment. No one had the courage to lead, not even the commander.
Just when their gunboat was almost getting to a throwing distance from one of the fishing boats, the moon gradually revealed itself and illuminated the sea, making their gunboat visible. They also saw a small canoe with two men in it.
‘Hello, ehmm…good morning, a voice came from the gunboat. ‘Please, we need your help.’
****
It was Uche that spoke. He was too scared to have adhered to Sopriala’s instruction. Sopriala and the others tried stopping him, but he wouldn’t. He kept on,
‘Our boat has a problem. Is there anywhere we can anchor till tomorrow?’
The fishermen didn’t utter a word. The gunboat was getting closer to them, and they heard the fishermen mutter. Immediately, they heard their paddles splash in the water and the fishermen’s boat seemed to be apparently distancing from theirs. The fishermen were going away.
Sopriala noticed this quickly and guessed they were around the Nembe territory. So he spoke his Kalabari dialect, hoping they would understand him, since both languages just had a few dialectical differences.
‘Minapu, pasisi balafama. Barasua wanapre!’
Brothers, please, don’t be afraid. We need your help. This was what he said to them, but the fishermen’s paddles splashed even faster. The lights from their lanterns immediately went off and in minutes they were gone.
‘Where are they?’ One of the soldiers asked.
‘I guess they are gone.’ Sopriala said
‘Gone? Why? What did you say to them that scared them away?’ he asked in a disappointed tone.
‘I only told them not to be scared, that we want their help. That’s all.’
‘And they just left? Hmm…Nawa o.’
‘I guess they were not ready to take chances owing to the numerous attacks on vulnerable people on the rivers these days. Pirates, ritualists, militants are just everywhere. You can’t tell who is who. If these fishermen had other choices, they wouldn’t have come out for fishing. That’s the truth.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘We have to keep trying to see if we could arrive at a creek and anchor by the mangrove till morning’.
That sounded a bit encouraging, even though people like Uche had given up. They chorused their support and they took turns to paddle the gunboat.
‘We are grounded!’ Sopriala shouted after ten minutes of energy sapping paddling. ‘We just ran aground on a shallow part of the sea. Let’s quickly get out of this area before the waves become intense. Any strong wave landing on us might cause damage to the boat.’
Instantly, some of the brave soldiers jumped down and began to push the boat out of the sand. It was a difficult task, but they had to save their boat. This they did for about ten minutes.
‘I think we all have to come down.’ Sopriala suggested. The soldiers had tried all they could in vain, because the weight of those still on board deterred it from moving.
‘Oya, everybody come down.’ The commander ordered.
‘I won’t come down o’ Uche retorted. ‘Me, come down here? Never!’
Everyone began raining insults on Uche, but he gave deaf ears, until one soldier bawled at him.
‘Hey, you, Mr. Journalist, you better move now, before I move you. You dey krase? Na krase dey worry you? See dis bloody civilian o?
Uche obeyed reluctantly. He envisaged what the soldier would do if he didn’t.
‘You get luck say I no come meet you there. You for hear am’, the soldier said.
It was easy for them to push it out now. One after the other, everyone was on board and the paddle and search for a nearby creek began again.
Not later than five minutes, someone picked up the humming sound of an engine in the still quiet night, often distorted by the intermittent splash of paddles and the chilly night breeze that whistled passed their ears. Sopriala strained his ear to confirm the noise and they were thrown into different thoughts. Who could they be?
‘Stop the paddling! Everyone keep quiet as the boat approaches’, the commander instructed.
‘Especially you that krase man’ he directed that to Uche. ‘If you try that thing you did before…na me go personally deal with you’.
Everyone was quiet as they waited for the suspense to climax.

Episode 1---https://ikiemoyeiniamagha./2017/12/20/309/
Episode 2---https://ikiemoyeiniamagha./2017/12/21/sopriala-continuation-2/
Episode 3---https://ikiemoyeiniamagha./2017/12/22/sopriala-continuation-3/