Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,151,674 members, 7,813,245 topics. Date: Tuesday, 30 April 2024 at 09:31 AM

JAPA--A Nigerian Story Of Survival - Literature - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / Literature / JAPA--A Nigerian Story Of Survival (740 Views)

‘iklumi’ - A Short African/nigerian Story / PERFIDY- A STORY OF LOVE,BETRAYAL AND DECEIT / Switched (story Of A Fierce Battle Between Desperate Infatuation And True Love) (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply)

JAPA--A Nigerian Story Of Survival by OluwabukolaRuth(f): 7:07pm On Jul 29, 2022
Tobi looked back two more times and clutched his bag to his chest. He had been hearing footsteps behind him for some minutes now.

"Aargh!" He screamed when a strong hand touched him at the back. His bag dropped from his grip into a small muddy pool in front of him. The water splashed onto his white sneakers and he covered his face with both hands.

A teenage boy in a dirty sports shirt smiled at him. The boy's smile faded as he watched Tobi freeze. A smirk appeared instead on the face of the boy who was to be later known as Kwame. Four boys of Kwame's age soon surrounded him. One pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Quench it, idiot!" Kwame barked at the guy with the cigarette and the boy did as he was told. One by one, the boys found things on which to sit, mostly abandoned bricks, while waiting for Tobi to come around.

"Don't kill me, please. I can link you up with my father, he will give you everything you want." Tobi said shakily in a British accent and the boys looked at one another, irritated but continued watching him with forced patience. Tobi then summoned the courage to pry apart the fingers that covered his eyes. Kwame saw the little action and smiled ruefully, showing a broken incisor that matched the ivory-imitation pendant on his neck.

"Come off it, my boti brother," Kwame said, trying to ease Tobi's mind. Tobi then raised both of his hands in the air to show surrender.
"Tobi Emiola," Kwame pronounced the name slowly. "You'll be going to Ghana and from there to London," Kwame said before looking up into Tobi's face.

"Your father must have told you that you're going to London, right?"

Tobi nodded sheepishly. The other boys who had been itching to laugh for so long laughed hard at the pitiful 25-year old nodding and their cracked voices reverberated in the environment.

"Governor's son," Kwame taunted in a low voice. "What state is the man governing?" Kwame asked his assistant, Psycho, who sat closest to him.

"Odogwu did not mention," Psycho replied calmly in a voice surprisingly different from others. He was the most intellectual of the gang and acted secretary-like.

"But Tobi, your only job was to stay where the driver dropped you. Why did you run away?"
Tobi shook his head vigorously instead of answering. The insecurity in the country was getting unbearable due to the elections. His father had thought it wise to send his children out of the country, one at a time to avoid public sentiments.

"You're quietly going to London," His father had said and it had sounded like music to his ears. The next time someone mentioned taking him somewhere quietly, he would make sure he probed before he assented.

Some minutes ago, his father's driver had dropped him at an unknown place and had driven off as fast as lightning. Scared, he had stayed under the umbrella of a woman selling roadside rice and beans. But he had to leave when he started seeing men in dark suits hiding around the area. His experience of men in dark suits made him nauseous. Not once, but twice had he been kidnapped by people who had pretended to be part of his father's security. The first wasn't made public but the second did and the media did a good job of reporting it as the first. But then, a particular TV personality who was known for always running after the truth started digging around. So, if the guys in black suits weren't kidnappers, they could be from the media.

"You no suppose leave that place!" Kwame had stood on his feet and was now shouting at the top of his voice. "Psycho, bring the body!"
Psycho beckoned to Blade who dragged a heavy sack with dark-red bloodstains to the centre of the guys. For the first time, Tobi dropped his hands so he could check the contents of the sack. In it lay a man in a black suit whose neck had been slashed many times with a machete. The blood on his neck was still fresh and had only just started clotting.


Continue reading part II here https://link.medium.com/UprBtlYN3rb

Re: JAPA--A Nigerian Story Of Survival by OluwabukolaRuth(f): 8:46pm On Aug 03, 2022
OluwabukolaRuth:


Tobi fainted to the ground at that moment and Kwame hissed. They didn't have to kill anyone if Tobi had obeyed simple instructions. Their job was to get Tobi to London without public sentiments which the Journalist would have provided. Headlines like "Governor sends his children abroad amidst election insecurity" would have reduced his chances of winning the governorship election the second time.

"How on earth did 'Get the Governor's son to London' become 'Kill the Governor's Journalist enemy?'" These gave Kwame headaches and caused him to rage at his VIP client who had turned the once innocent travel gang into a murder gang. Blade, who had only been used whenever someone needed to get injured had turned machete.

"Ah, Maame!" Kwame lamented as he dismantled the camera that had somehow gotten into his hands.

#

Tobi woke up with a dizzy head. He sat up in the dank rice storage and looked down at his clothes. His white round neck was stained with mud and something else that had a dark-red colour. He smelt it and realized that it was blood. The different colours made it look like a bizarre adire.

He tried remembering the events that led to his being in the rice storage but only remembered hearing someone calling for his mother. Tobi stood up after a few trials and tried forgetting the headache he felt. He dusted off the dirt on his jeans but couldn't do much about the mud on his sneakers.

After observing the activities going on in what he concluded to be a warehouse, he stood up to make his escape. He walked around for some time and then realized that he was on the ground floor. He was already crossing the dusty open space that overlooked the exit when someone called to him.

"Oga!"

Tobi froze on the spot but turned around to face the direction of the voice. A flash of how he'd made a fool of himself while with Kwame's gang passed in his memory and he decided to put on an act.

"How many guys do you need to carry the bags?" The girl who had called was now closer and he could see that she had multicoloured layers of makeup on her face.

Tobi looked beyond her and saw some bare-chested muscled guys look at him hungrily. They looked ready for whatever anyone who paid them would have them do.

"Errm, I'm just on my way to bring my car," Tobi lied. The girl's face looked blank.

"I parked it quite far away from here only to realize that..." He looked around the warehouse. "You know, It's my first time here,"

He said and smiled at her even though she still didn't look convinced. He dug his hands into his pockets and hoped that he had some money there. Thankfully, five 1,000 naira notes got pulled out and he handed them over to her. "For you and the guys." The girl thanked him and the guys hailed him as he walked through the exit.

For the first time after several minutes of tension, he was able to take a deep breath. He had wandered far away from the uncompleted warehouse but had to start running when he heard footsteps behind him. He ran for a while until he couldn't anymore as he wasn't used to much running. He raised both hands in surrender as the footsteps became closer.

Surprisingly, the person also collapsed steps away from him.

"Were you kidnapped too?"

That question made the situation sensible. After deciding to pool their resources, they started their journey, hoping to get to an express road soon. The sky became darker until the two dragged their tired bodies to an uncompleted building, hoping it was safe. After finding a comfortable spot to rest, Tobi took off his shirt which now stank. However, the two guys had to hold their breath for a while when they heard someone whistling in the distance. Then a torch shone in their direction and when they looked up, a man was smiling at them and then threw them small nylon and left. It took them some minutes before they realized that the small nylon contained two meat pies that they devoured hungrily.

Tobi and the guy slept through the night despite the swarms of mosquitoes that came around to feast on their blood. Tobi woke up very early in the morning and went outside to urinate but started screaming out his lungs.

His friend had to come and silence him by putting his hands over his mouth. But when the friend looked at the ground on which they stood, he realized that their feet were messed up in the blood. The poor guy vomited the contents of his last meal on the spot.

Tobi and his friend had to match the blood once again to leave the uncompleted house and walked briskly while at it. On their way out, they heard a girl crying. Compassion welled in their hearts and they proceeded to rescue the girl. They had finished untying her and were about to leave when the guy that threw them snacks the previous day entered the room.


Continue reading part III (The End) here
https://link.medium.com/9o2q0sc6bsb

(1) (Reply)

Radio Presenting Job Needed / the next nigerian nobel laureate. / Get Barcodes For Your Book Now

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 37
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.