WE WATCHED HER KILLED”

“Help! Help! Help!", the voice screamed from the neighbouring apartment.

The time is 5:15pm Saturday evening and most families are at home.

From my guess, the screams must be from flat 4 where Chomy lives.

Chomy is a 29 year old single lady who works with the state ministry of commerce at Aggrey road, Port Harcourt.

She is a typical description of beauty. 175cm tall. Oval shaped face with two medium sized eyes to match. A well pointed nose and a mouth decorated with naturally full red lips.

Born Igbo and raised n the eastern part of Nigeria, Chomy speaks Igbo and English language fluently. Her well toned accents also do betray her as having been raised in the United Kingdom.

Due to her brilliance, Chomy had grown to be an assistant to the permanent secretary of the ministry. As such, she has to personally draft some aspects of the ministry’s budget which the permanent secretary will skim through, append his signature and forward to the honourable commissioner.

Just last Monday, she had encountered an incident which she had simply shrugged off.

While trekking the 5 minutes distance from the bus stop to her house, a lanky figure had walked into her path stopping Chomy in her tracks. As he smiled at her, she could observe that two of his front teeth were missing.

“Hey baby how far?” He asked as both peered into each other.

“I am fine thank you!” Chomy replied as she made to step away.

“Ah! Ah! Fine geh chill na” the man said as he blocked her once again.

“Please excuse me I need to go now. It’s been a hectic day already” said Chomy as she stepped away this time without being blocked.

The incident had occurred several days ago (5 days precisely) and dally had forgotten about it.

While in the kitchen preparing egusi soup which will last her about a week, Chomy's door bell rang at exactly 5:11pm.

Up, Chomy walked to the door.

“Who is there?”

“I’m here to deliver a package to you ma'am" a voice replied.

Looking through the pigeon hole she could see a man putting on a yellow face cap and a branded T-shirt which looked like that of a DHL dispatch rider. "Oh it must be the book I ordered from Amazon last week" Chomy thought.

As Chomy opened the door, she immediately recognised the face as that of the man who had stopped her on Monday.

“What do you want?” Chomy asked as he had no package in his hand.

“Baby I come see you. I don dey think about you since Monday after we see for road. Today I come say make I come house."

“Who showed you my house?” Chomy blurted out in defiance.

“Baby I love you well and I know say you love me too” said the intruder as he reached out to hug Chomy.

Chomy stepped back and made to run to the kitchen. But before she could run 3 steps her assailer reached her and pushed her against the nearby cushion.

“Help! Help! Help!” Chomy screamed as she pushed and kicked.

During the struggle, the man in an attempt to shut her up strangled her.

Even though more than 15 people in the neighbourhood heard Chomy’s screams, no one had made any move to help the lady. It was a mystery which no one could explain.

After about 8 days of investigation, Chomy’s killer was arrested by the police who described him as a wanted man who had raped and killed a middle-aged woman at Osogbo, Osun state two weeks earlier.

What surprised the police and the judiciary was that despite her screams, despite more than 15 people hearing Chomy's cry for help, no one picked up the phone to call the police.

"Well, the other neighbour is around and will check it out" everyone had thought.

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Did you know that in a string of experiments conducted in the US, it was discovered that up-to 70% of the time, people rarely help other people in danger no matter how grievous the situation is if they discover that they're other people around.

Naturally, we feel less concerned if something wrong happens in public. We want to have our space and peace.

But should it always be so?

Let's think this through.

What if we are the ones in danger? What if it's our family and friends?

What if?

What if?

What if?

No matter how others around us react in negative situations, let us be the ones to lead the pack and show people the right way.

Let's be the catalyst the bring about positive change. If you don't take action, the other person wouldn't.

Are you living to leave a legacy or just tip-toeing to an early grave?

Stay blessed.

...Samuel Ukah 2018.