Ken Solomon packed his bag quietly, his mind absolved with his unexpected journey into Africa. So how come this so-called ‘jungle’ still hosts some of the smartest human species on earth? Then this jungle must be filled with Goddamn smart crooks. He thought, stuffing some shirts into a brown Louis Vuitton bag. Was Nigeria a safe jungle? Could the country be as bad and dangerous as many of them were made to believe? What about the current security alert from the US consulate on the country? All these questions troubled his mind that morning as he arranged for his decisive journey.
He had earlier read the alert from the United States website on Nigeria, including the deadly activities of the terrorist group Boko Haram in the Northern part of the country, the daring Militants in the Niger-Delta, the daredevil robbers across many states in the federation, including the rampant cases of kidnapping and ethno-religious crises across the oil rich country. Thinking of the danger ahead as an American citizen he suddenly wondered if he was not carelessly putting out his neck easily in the net of some crazy dangerous criminals in the African jungle. This with constant reports of hostage taking in the Nigerian Niger Delta where some youths in the oil rich neglected area have now turned into militancy and directing their grievances on the many expatriate and foreigners who dare to remained in the volatile region; all these in an attempt to draw world attention and sympathy to their plights. Again, reports have also indicated that some of these so-called revolutionary militants were mere disgruntled criminals who now capitalized on hostage taking to make fast money through the demands of exorbitant ransomed fees from the families of the victims or the government. Ken Solomon’s mind shrieked a bit as he imagined the big scandal it will caused if any of these militant group conceivably decided to kidnap him in Nigeria.
No, his trip to the country will not include this volatile region. He assured himself and prayed silently that it should be so. He guaranteed himself that everything would move on fine and continued parking his bag and arranged himself for the most challenging journey of his life.
The phony transaction had centered around two cites in Nigeria: Abuja the new capital city and Lagos the old capital. He reminded himself. He had read somewhere that the latter was the most controversial and dangerous of the two, and unfailingly these two cities were his target. He was sure that the tricky smart corny bastards were hold-up somewhere in one of the cities, enjoying themselves and freely blowing away his hard earned money. He imagined as he prepared himself for his journey of a lifetime.

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