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Souloho19's Posts

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Politics / Re: Lagos Government Prohibits Public Address System For Religious Purposes by souloho19(m): 8:03am On Feb 29
EvangelistChuks:
The gates of hell SHALL NEVER PREVAIL AGAINST THE CHURCH OF GOD,TRY THOUGH THEY MAY.

Evangelist Chucks Odor?
Music/Radio / Re: What Music Are You Listening To Right Now? by souloho19(m): 6:05am On Nov 21, 2023
Live Forever * Yours Truly
Music/Radio / Re: What Music Are You Listening To Right Now? by souloho19(m): 10:31am On Sep 11, 2023
Demurray:

Solulho, where have you been? It's quite a while .

Long time bro, unforseen circumstances got me mentally messed up for a while but on a recovery path. Stay blessed G

2 Likes

Music/Radio / Re: What Music Are You Listening To Right Now? by souloho19(m): 9:07am On Sep 11, 2023
No Ordinary * Labrinth
Crime / Re: What Are Other Reasons You Enter Fast Food Centers Or Banks? by souloho19(m): 1:29pm On May 31, 2022
WhrightJr:

what brand nd model of phone?

It's a redmi phone
Crime / Re: What Are Other Reasons You Enter Fast Food Centers Or Banks? by souloho19(m): 9:52pm On May 30, 2022
chatinent:
Me: Crunches, toilet.

grin

Hi bro I need your help tracking a phone. My sis phone was stolen this evening and her funds transferred. Sent you a mail
Romance / Re: Man Bought ₦125M Duplex In Lekki For His 19-Year-Old Side Chick by souloho19(m): 9:49pm On Mar 16, 2022
Rap Battles / Re: Resolution 1 Jagbajantis Vs Joewendell by souloho19(m): 9:31am On Feb 18, 2022
Leggo
Rap Battles / Re: •°• Kay9ine Vs Omminnent ™ Newbies Rap Battles Tournament 2022 K.O Round •°• by souloho19(m): 7:12am On Feb 01, 2022
Opener - Kay9ine

Rhymes - kay9ine

Similes/metaphors - Tie

Punchlines - Tie nothing really stood out

Flow - Omminent

Personals - Nil (didn't see any)

Wordplay - Kay9ine

Closer - kay9ine(detached roof was dope)

Mgvt: Kay9ine

1 Like

Rap Battles / Re: •°• Deepwaters007 Vs Iantempo ™ Newbies Rap Battles Tournament 2022 •°• by souloho19(m): 10:15pm On Jan 29, 2022
JoeWendell:



Lol omo deep sef na madman grin

As in eh cheesy both of them dey para
Rap Battles / Re: •°• Deepwaters007 Vs Iantempo ™ Newbies Rap Battles Tournament 2022 •°• by souloho19(m): 10:05pm On Jan 29, 2022
• Opener - 1 point - Tempo - close call but the water resistant bar did it for me

• Rhymes - 2 points - Water -hands down here

• Similes/ Metaphors - 2 points - Water -Tempo did good but Water had more, esp similes

• Punchlines - 3 points - Draw

• Personals - 2 points - Nil didn't really see any

• Flow - 1 point - Draw

• Wordplays - 2 points - Draw - (kylian, befitting)

• Closer - 1 point - Tempo boiling point bar did it again

Tempo - 8
Water - 10

Mvgt - DeepWater

Good brawl guys

1 Like

Rap Battles / Re: •°• Newbies Tourney 2022 Battle Fixtures Updates And More •°• by souloho19(m): 7:16am On Jan 26, 2022
Leggo
Nairaland / General / Re: Send A Shoutout To Nairalanders That Made You Smile This Year by souloho19(m): 1:56am On Jan 01, 2022
Athemisia:


Shout out to Dodoatirice for wonderful reality/ fiction Tori... Wey he take update Boyz this year. Twale baba..

Shout out to silver1996,
Danieljunior,
Souloho19,
Renderhelp
another reality/fiction writers.
You guys made my year aswear... You got me glued reading for hours yet hunger for more.

But abeg souloho19 and renderhelp make una come drop update oooooh...

Last but not the least.... My humble self
ATHEMISIA...

Shout out to KingWarri my boy....



Happy new year bro. Thanks for the shout out

1 Like

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 9:05pm On Nov 10, 2021
Kawo9ze:
Don't take too long!

Guy if you can't wait unfollow the story

1 Like

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 9:12pm On Nov 08, 2021
iamL:
Hope you are Gud solo?

I'm good honestly, caught up in a hectic 9-5 presently and dont want to start updating until I have atleast 30k words penned down.

3 Likes 1 Share

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 4:41pm On Oct 17, 2021
Hydriss:
Welcome back Souloho19...… Glad to know you're fine

Thank you bro
Literature / Re: The Devil Wears Okrika by souloho19(m): 5:34pm On Jul 26, 2021
Drabeey:
Nice read

No problem bro, I’ll like to have it narrated Send a Pm let’s talk
Literature / Re: The Devil Wears Okrika by souloho19(m): 5:30pm On Jul 26, 2021
Bodydiialect57:


Yeah, l actually read the suspense filled book. You left me confused as to who the rapist was, so that got me glued till l read to the end.

You are a very creative writer. More ink to your pen @ Souloho.

Pardon me for not commenting earlier please.


BTW, l am still waiting to know about the fate of Rex Obasi o. Lols.


Thank you, although you may be interested to know that there is an edition available on Wattpad which has a different ending concerning the palm-wine scene and pa Kenneth.

@ bolded the fate of Rex Obasi is being determined this very moment and would be concluded in a couple of hours �
Rap Battles / Re: Flow For Rank by souloho19(m): 4:57pm On Jul 23, 2021
Joewendell I got some time on my hands to school you small cheesy
Literature / Re: The Devil Wears Okrika by souloho19(m): 4:54pm On Jul 23, 2021
bodydiialect57

Have you checked this out ma’am?

1 Like 1 Share

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 8:16am On Jul 19, 2021
KelvinCoaster:
Haha...I can assist you with information about the north(any info).
Just send a mail.

You're doing gr8!

Bless bro

1 Like

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 8:15am On Jul 19, 2021
Elfaris:


Nice. That's what I love about your books. You do your researches well. But free advice, try as much as possible to avoid the excess stereotypes about the north. Would be a stain on the work tbh. Otherwise, fire on. Thumbs up bro.

Thanks for this bro, I’ll be conscious to avoid stereotypes

1 Like

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 8:14am On Jul 19, 2021
SECURING THE BAG II - THE SATCHEL OF EZIZA

Chapter 1


FUOYO


Treasure Hunting

It was hard to tell what time we landed, but it felt like 3 or 4 hours later.Everywhere was pitch black and I sat still and tried to calm my nerves as the helicopter began it’s slow descent, in a cleared area, whipping up blades of grass.

"okay you guys....if you're lucky we may find it here and you can all return to your old lives" The taller man said, Pointing his gun at Kanaku and instructing him to hop down from the chopper

"can you stop pointing that thing at me, unless you plan to use it then do it once and for all otherwise put that rubbish away and let's focus on the real serious matter like finding the location." Kanaku snapped and I held my breath

To my surprise the man complied, he seemed a lot more reasonable and grounded than the short bloodthirsty looking psycho

"fine...we have a camp already set up beyond those hills. We get 2 hours rest and by first light we move and you lead us to the next sight....move!"

The three of us got down from the helicopter and to my surprise the engine was switched off and the blades gradually ceased their fast rotation. The short gunmen called Jango shouted at the pilot, "fifteen minutes tops they'll be here to retrieve the equipment and you can take off"

"roger that"

We walked for about 15 minutes until we came to the foot of a hill which could very well be a mountain for all I knew. They led us round the hill to the other side and I was amazed at what I saw. Two large tents joined together with a seperating material zippable door, it was well lit with energy light bulbs, from a huge generator humming a few feet away, almost noiseless. There were boxes of canned food and other boxes with sophisticated looking equipment I had never seen before. One of the tents had roll up camp beds and mosquito nets with canned and cartons of foodstuffs, while the other housed the equipments. There were computer screens and laptops attached to thousands of wires which all seemed to connect to the biggest computer screen I’d ever seen in my life. It was manned by a smallish man in reading glasses and rolled up sleeves to his elbows. He wasn't alone however. There were about four more men, and I noticed two were dressed in the same combat gear as our trackers, with scary looking rifles hung across their shoulders while the other 2 were shirtless, sitting on some boxes and smoking cigarets. They looked more like foremen, for heavy lifting and probably setting up the tents and I was right, because Jango immediately barked at them. "Hey A and B! all you do is smoke all day and eat corned beef....the pilot is waiting for you at the field, go get the detectors and gears from the helicopter....and make sure you load it all tonight cause we leave very early tomorrow!"

"shun sir!" They both squashed their cigarette butts with their boots and immediately left the tent without even sparing us a glance.

Jessy and Kanaku had come to stand beside me and we observed them leave, before turning our gaze warily to the four armed gun men and then with interest to the man hunched over the computer.

"Hey...Scholari get your eyes off the screen for a second, our guests are here" one of the gunmen barked at him

The smallish man turned his head to glance at us for the barest second before returning his attention to the screen. He hurriedly hit a couple of buttons expertly then pushed his glasses up his nose once more then finally stood up straight and regarded us.

"it's a big pleasure to meet you all....I hope we really have a good time working together and making history"

He held his hand for a shake even though he was a couple of feet away from us, then he made a strange move, moving his clasped palm vigorously in an arc, as if from that alone he had given us some kind of telepathic handshake.

"who are you?" Kanaku asked, his voice wasn't harsh or demanding, he wasn't even looking at the strange fellow but instead I noticed his eyes were on the four gunmen hurdled together and whispering amongst themselves while watching us idly.

"Oh I work for GED and i'm the lead archeologist of this noble expedition...I hear you're all colleagues of Brian and here to take his place for the expedition, the both of us have worked on so many successful expeditions together in the past, I wish he was here for the main discovery...because without him, we'll definitely not be as close as we are...It was dreadful to hear about his accident..I'm still shaken"

"What accident? you mean the murder you guys committed right?" Kanaku scoffed

The man actually blinked and I noticed he looked confused for a mini second. His reaction gave me an insight immediately; This man didn't know about Mr D's murder.....He was different from the rest , no gun, he didn't even have much interest in anything else but the huge computer screen. He was clearly not a killer, more like an academic and the most important thing I could observe was, he was crucial to the expedition, if not he wouldn't be here.

"Hey enough of the chitchat....Doctor the equipment you asked for has arrived, the boys are hauling it in right now" The guard snapped immediately

He turned his attention to the tracker/killer, "what equipment...oh you mean the gemstones detector?"

"yes duh!"

He gave a shriek of excitement...and looked at Kanaku "do you know with the tracker, we'll be able to get readings of Zircon gemstones from kilometers away, and majority of the other gems used to carve the satchel"

I took a step closer to him and for the first time studied the screen he had been so caught up in. "I thought the satchel was just rubies and gold...."

"Oh no...it's carved from a bronze wire curved like a necklace or bag handle...it depends...but the bronze wire is attached with gemstones, some of the most precious stones ever discovered in Africa and nowhere else.....I'm talking gemstones first discovered centuries ago....the pendant or satchel itself is what is made of the rubies and gold....it's rumored to be pure gold weighing an estimated gram that is almost unbelievable, but with the biggest ruby ever discovered...or soon to be discovered....crested in the middle like a star....." he drifted off dreamily before shaking his head, "here check it out," he pointed to the screen and I stared closer.

All this while I had never seen a detailed picture of the satchel, and had actually formed a mental picture of what to expect, but as I leaned over the screen, I was literally blown away. It was crazy cause at first it looked so much like a bag...the kind of bags common in modern times....like a roundish handle with beads lining up round the handle and a kind of bright star in golden purse at the center....but then after scrutinizing...it equally looked like a bead chain necklace and a big golden pendant with a red star...but here was what blew me away.....it wasn't a bead bag or bead necklace, cause it wasn't beads lining the arc but differently coloured diagonal stones which even in the screen was absolutely clear one won't need to hold this up to any source of light for scrutiny; it glowed and gleamed with an inner light...the kind of inner glow only common with priceless stones...almost like the movies , except this image in the screen wasn't a movie....the glow was real, even through the computer screen, I could feel the pull.

These were precious stones...gem stones....naturally discovered Centuries ago and unique to the black and naturally richest continent, Africa. and the bright yellow pendant or satchel, was pure gold melted and carved into a hollow arc which looked like an open satchel or hollow pendent with a huge gleaming star in the middle.. A ruby.....

My mouth dropped open. I could suddenly immediately envision it around the neck of the sacred Olokun deity centuries ago, and also around the neck of the General ....and the image had a crazy effect suddenly. I didn't envision or imagine...I saw it round my neck completely, with the gemstones glowing and the star ruby in the center gleaming like the bright stones round my neck.....it felt so real that I touched my hand to my throat, almost expecting to feel the satchel, it was a split second image but I felt a splitting wave of power so strong and swift, something I had never experienced before and as I shook the thoughts out of my head, the image cleared and I straightened up.

Kanaku and Jessy were beside me, staring at the screen and definitely not having the same sinister thoughts as me.

"so this is the satchel..."

"so how do we get it?" He and Jessy asked

"thats's where we work together....I understand you have the major locations...Nassarawa is out so you lead us one after the other, starting from Kaduna. but with my tracker tools this time and my calculation...not to mention these gun wielding security personel, ....they're really good trackers..you direct us close enough to the next exact location, my tools would pick out the gemstones signal from miles away, so we won't waste time digging random graves. cause I believe we have about 4 more locations?"

"Your camp beds are set, have some canned beans and sweet corn and get some rest. We have a long distance tomorrow, and you're leading us" The fourth gunman instructed us
I swallowed, I still had a lot to ask the scientist/archeologist, instead the sadistic gunman nudged us to the second tent, where 3 beds had been sprawled, with Mosquito nets above so we only had to tuck it in before sleeping

"Those lazy bastards are still bringing the tools from the chopper?" Jango asked exasperatedly.

"don't worry...." the second held a hand up, "professor, help our guests with 3 cans of sweetcorn and sausage. You 3 eat and go to bed, No water o! we have limited supply till tomorrow so manage!"


:::
Jessy sat on her bed, Kanaku continued pacing and so did I, until the professor entered our tent with a basket of the canned food and a big bottle water.

"i thought they said no water?" Jessy asked, gratefully taken the bottled water

"don't mind those brawns...been here for a week with them and they have nothing to offer, finally with the arrival of you people, we finally have progress, I'm not risking having you get dehydrated and getting dry ideas like those 4 brutes..."

I liked the man instantly.."you said you worked with GED?" I asked, cause I also remembered the inscription on the helicopter

"Yes"

"with Mr Brian?" Jessy asked

'yes...he was the best at tracking...I was the best at authenticating our finds.., we made finds worth fortunes working together ..."

Kanaku asked the main question I'd been trying to set up all this while,

"what is GED"

"Geraldine Exploration and Discovery"

"hmmmm"

"Geraldine....." My ears perked up and I connected the dot, "one Gerard is your boss?"

"you could say that...I previously offered services as a freelance authenticator to a lot of historical museums and private industries one of which was the GED, they've been funding searches for years in different countries...mostly African countries and underwater expeditions for sunken merchant ships along the pacific...His group is quite popular. I've been contracted by his company on a number of previous cases and worked really well with Mr Brian...we've worked in places like Egypt, Ethopia and made unbelievable finds...but I had to step back...I do what I do for knowledge, but it became clear to me our sponsor was not interested in sharing our finds with the world, millions worth of artificats passed through my table and I never heard or saw of it again..take an ancient staff that belonged to the great Selassie I for instance, never seen again and rumoured to have been looted by Mussolinni's troops, discovered by Brian a decade ago and appraised by me to be worth at least tens of millions of dollars and yet not even a word in the news, no word of such a sacred artifact ending in a museum where it belongs...so I stopped my freelancing and began lecturing in a University in Brimingham until sometime in 2017, an ancient Nigerian artifcat was discovered in a museum in Britain, stolen during the colonial raid on the ancient Benin kingdom by colonial attacks....it went viral and sparked a movement to find and return the lost artifacts to Africa and Nigeria... I wrote a lot of thesis and articles about the missing undocumented treasures we may never find because I'm a historian and no stranger to all that was stolen from Africa during colonialism and still continues to be stolen via neocolonialism and imperialism till this very day. once again it caught the attention of the GED....and after a meeting with Gerald and his team, I found out about the greatest treasure lost and undocumented, the main reason GED had been founded in the first place. It was decided GED would sponsor the expedition... but this time around they handed the grant to an archeoigst....me and signed me onboard to remain on the sidelines until Mr Brian made his crucial findings and we began our hunt, after which my contract gives me the sole right to document every session of the expedition for my book and scientific documentary-'

"hey that's enough chatter, you guys better sleep for your sake...proff...your device is here, come and crosscheck and sign for it.." One of the other gunmen swung open the tent and barked

The proff immediately rushed out of the tent, and the three of us looked at each other.

Kanaku finally spoke, "what the hell did we get ourselves into....which kain express our egungun enter like this?"

17 Likes

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 7:59am On Jul 19, 2021
That’s it folks The Lagos Hustle has come to an end. Now for a sneak peek into the book II -The Satchel Of Eziza

10 Likes

Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 7:55am On Jul 19, 2021
:::::::::::
Kanaku

Killer Babysitters


In less than 10 seconds, a thousand scenerios had played through my mind...all had the same end result: The sleek white bastard slumped over the desk, dead. But I had to reign my emotions in check. This man was powerful and knew what he was doing he had definitely planned everything long ago. And now he had a sledge hammer over the three of us...hanging over our families and he was just rootless enough to kill them all. I knew it from looking into his eyes alone. This was a cruel bastard. Plus his bodyguard here wouldn't give me a chance...I refused to believe he was stronger than me and would best me in a fight but the way he had pinned me down earlier gave me second thoughts. And so when we were led out of the room, we saw two of our captors waiting in the corridor. They had their masks off this time, and I studied their faces. Emotionless eyes, thin lips, and a general demeanor that screamed violence. I immediately suspected they were the tracker assassins who had killed Mr D in the hotel and when the shorter one spoke; "There's a football field not too far, our pilot has the helicopter waiting....we move to Kaduna tonight"

I recognized the voice immediately from the bloody night at the hotel. He had seemed the more grounded and reasonable of the duo that faithful night, insisting they leave while the second had wanted to tear down the entire suite.

I glanced at Fuoyo and Jessy and I knew they were thinking the same thing too.

"we don't have all day...one complaint I make to the boss and you know what that means" The second chipped and my thoughts were confirmed. He was the sadist. Even looked the part, short man devil with a scraggly beard and 4 o'clock glassy eyes similar to a sewer rat's.

We marched down the stairs again and into the same van but this time the four remaining gunmen were nowhere to be found. They knew too much force wasn't necessary again, not when they had our loved ones for we would surely remain on good behaviour for their sake.

I still felt like slamming my body against them, and killing them with my bare hands but what about Barakat and Ruki? I'll surely sentence them to their death for sure with a risk like that.

It was a quiet 15 minutes drive and our two killers/trackers led us to what had to be the biggest helicopter I had ever seen. It had 4 different rotator blades instead of the usual 2 common with most helicopters and it was on standby, with blinking lights on both sides which made the letters, G.E.D visible.
We strapped in on a straight bench and fastened our seatbelts, while the trackers sat across from us. I looked around the dimly lit helicopter. There were big crates and cartons all sealed and looking really heavy. I couldn't even guess what they were but I had a hunch it was all related to the expedition.

The pilots started up the engine and the noise from the blades drowned off any attempted conversation until we were finally in the air and the sound subsided a bit, although we still had to shout if we wanted to be heard.

"Are you okay?" I shouted at Jessy

She nodded but her eyes said no.

"Hey! no talking except it’s about our next location and plan" the sadist tracker cautioned.

I stared him hard in the eye and he stared back, unwilling to blink or look away.

"You're the ones who murdered him that night right?"

"what...how do you-"

"shhh...." his partner cautioned him and stared at me, "what night?"

"The night you screwed up and missed the treasure map that was right before your eyes....I don't think you told your boss that the reason he has to depend on us to find the treasure is because you guys were too bloodthirsty to notice the clues and drawing on the floor before you messed it up with blood"

"how did you...what are you talking about?"

"you should have checked the remaining suite that night....maybe I would have killed you both then...quick and clean..almost painless...but now I promise you, your death is going to be horrible...both of you...for touching and threatening my family....our family-!" I spat the words with so much venom and conviction, it came out like a prophesy and I really meant-it.

Rat face pointed his rifle at my chest. "easy slick....we're going on a very dangerous mission, accidents can happen...especially if you continue talking like that, and then what will happen to your precious fa-"

"Jango that's enough....put that thing away for God's sake..." the second guy was definitely higher rank and more calculative. "And as for you....I don't want to hear anything from you until we get to Kaduna. If you're wise you'll get a little sleep cause you won't get the chance in a while"

I clenched my teeth, thinking and wishing I could throw them both from the helicopter. But I was basically hopeless. There was really nothing I could do but play along. If I wanted to see my family again...same with my friends too. Fuoyo still looked dazed, Jessy looked shocked. I was angry. We all had our different ways of reacting to such news. Mine was always anger and swift reaction but for the first time my anger couldn't do anything except make matters worse. So I clenched my teeth in annoyance and imagined killing the short man devil called Jango. Especially when they fell asleep, snoring loudly as if they didn't have a single care in the world, but I couldn't close my eyes without seeing Barakat's frightened face in my mind's eye. I hadn't even seen Ruki...Oh God! These bastards were going to pay, everyone of them from the cold blooded killers babysitting us to the refined white prick crazy enough to believe he was the reincarnated soul of his ancestor. I promised myself this as I tried to convert my raw anger to patient determination.

END

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Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 7:46am On Jul 19, 2021
:::::::::::::::
JESSY

Dealing with the Devil

At first I couldn't be certain how many men were in the van with us. They sat across us and on the left and right sides too, blinding us with the bright flashlight beams in our faces. After squinting as much as I could, I deduced they were six in number in the van with us. Two across and two on the left and right sides.
They didn't say anything or seem interested in us, apart from blinding us of course.

Fuoyo finally gave a sigh...."can you guys please turn it off...we didn't even do anything neither do we know you, yet you just-"

He gave a sudden grunt and fell quiet. I guessed Kanaku had elbowed him in the ribs.

The drive back to the Town and Merina hotel seemed shorter than our Lorry ride that morning. I remembered the livestock we had been forced to abandon when the gunmen showed up.

By the time the van screeched to a hault in front of the hotel, it was totally dark. yet there was still movement and well lit houses, street lights and late night stores yet to close for the night.

The street had mashai kiosks scattered on both sides, with few customers munching on their indomie and egg so it wasn't lonely or secluded yet what surprised me was that the men hopped out of the van, still armed in their ski masks and automatic rifles as though they were wearing police uniforms and didn't infact look like criminals. In the few seconds before the two hefty hands gripped my arm and all but dragged me into the hotel, I managed to glance in both directions and nobody even paid attention, looked our way or batted an eyebrow.

The receptionist lady looked at us with expressionless eyes then she nodded at one of the man who gripped my arm and they headed for the staircase. Fuoyo was behind me and hefted in similar positon, only at the curve of the stairs that I crained my neck and saw the two men with Kanaku didn't hold him, they probably couldn't even lift him. Instead they each left a hand on his shoulder and prodded him from behind, with their guns pressed into his back.

Finally at the last floor, one of the goons released my arm and rapped his knuckles on the door.
The scariest and tallest man I had ever seen in my life opened the door and glared at me before staring behind at Kanaku and Fuoyo and stepping aside.

I couldn't move for a second, paralyzed with fear. If I once thought Kanaku had a rough, inimidating and mean rugged face and demeanor...next to this doorman he was like tejubaby face. The man had a nasty scar from his forehead, across his right eye, which meant he had just one functioning eye, which looked capable enough to see judging from how big the pupils and eyeballs were. He had a couple more scars from his neck down which thankfully disappeared under the collar of his shirt.
The gunman still holding on to my arm pushed me through the open door impatiently and I almost fell on my face.

Fuoyo and Kanaku were also shoved in and the door slammed behind them. I swirled around as I regained my balance and was shocked to see none of the gunmen had entered with us. It was Mr Scar who had shut the door. He crossed his arms across his big chest and stared at me with no expression but I had a feeling he was waiting for one of us to try something stupid.

He didn't hold my attention for long, cause right across the room, sitting on a chair with his legs stretched on the table and crossed at his ankles was the man from the video call.
The main man. Mr D's boss?

He rubbed his hands together and got up from the table and even gave a half bow. "I'm terribly sorry if my boys rough handled you...they get carried away at times cause of the passion they have for me"

"Who are you?" Kanaku barked.

Immediately, the one eyed beast took a threatening step forward but the pale elegant hand shot up, halting his progress.

He looked at me and smiled coldly, "I'm the man your boyfriend stole from..." Then flashed the same smile to Fuoyo and Kanaku, “I'm the one who can destroy everything you hold dear in a second, Í'm the one who has been on a divine quest for decades to have what belonged to me"

"what are you talking about?" Fuoyo asked

"That's it...no more questions except the one I ask. First where's my diary?"

"The diary of the general Gerald?"

"Southern Governor if you will...It belonged to my grandfather...and passed down to me Gerald the III in a last minute will which he cut off my weakling of a father and willed his entire estate to me as well as his secret and his right....his rightful place as a god amongst men and it is my destiny to reclaim his status....Brian was so smart and even though he didn't believe it existed he was the best person to track down the diary and decipher the map to find the bag, but he was greedy and foolish...foolish enough to think he could double-cross me. I've been after the satchel for years..you have no idea what I've done both centuries ago and in this present age to finally get close to reclaim what is mine....now where's the diary? unless we'll be having the video call once more with a gun to your sweet baby girls head"

Kanaku sprang up so violently and charged at the table...and I quickly shouted, "The diary is here....it's here....you can have it...it's in my bag"

"If you lay one finger on my daughter I promise you..." The scarred giant intercepted Kanaku just in time, grabbing him by the hand and both men grappled for a second before he successfully pinned Kanaku's hands behind his back.

The white man never even flinched, he chuckled, looking at me with reptile like eyes that felt like he was undressing me. I got the huge book from the backpack and approached his table and handed it to him.

He collected it but surprisingly put it to the side. "Good..since you have the diary which would mean Brian fell straight into the trap and gave it to you...I'm counting you also know the missing link? The other locations the supposed sons would be buried presently?"

"how do you....you've read it?" Fuoyo asked

"of course dummies, who do you think made it possible for it to be found in the first place? Brian traveled to Edo and believes all of a sudden, a century old treasure book would fall in his hands...I needed him to figure out what my ancestor never found out and he did that like I knew because he really was the best but then planned to betray me like I also suspected and it's now clear you all worked hand in hand..."

"Look we don't know anything...just the names of 5 states, we planned to just checkout Nassarawa because that was the only documented location in the diary.." Fuoyo protested

"My men already scoured the location days ago, Nassarawa is out of the equation...now this is what you'll do if you want to see your family...you have one week to get me the satchel of Eziza or else...your sweet parents would receive another signed package from their in-law to be but it's going to be a bomb and not a mini-fridge this time around..." he stared into my eyes as he said this and I began to shiver.... "or your dear mother would receive a box containing the big heads of your brothers which is supposed to be memorizing computer science and sociology subjects for the second semester exams...she's already lost her husband, losing two more children might be too much for her." He looked at Fuoyo when he said this and he also cried out..."please I beg you don't-"

But he was already facing Kanaku. "And you, I don't need to tell you what awaits your family if you fail. Yours is worst, you have so much family members I really don't know which to face first...but your father might receive a favour and get a sweet release from the dementia killing his brain first...or your pregnant wife could encounter a premature C-section, So get wise and channel your anger to finding me my Satchel....I'm giving you my personal chopper...with two of my trackers...they're the best and most skillful, so you're going to work with them and if I receive a wrong complaint from them, no matter how small, then the deal is off and we'll all get to have another video call which would be very graphic"

We were all speechless until, he gave a flick of his wrist and his body guard began to shove us to the door one after the other.

"pardon my bad hospitality, I would have invited you for dinner especially since you look very hungry and tattered...but for your sake you must make use of the limited time." He called after us before the door was shut in our faces

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Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 8:30pm On Jul 13, 2021
Elfaris:
Wawu. I don't know what to feel. I sha know we're going on another long Souloho adventure just like 'Hole in the Wall' & 'Delayed Diagnosis'. I hope this one doesn't get too long though.

Nah it won’t be long...just as a young C Ronaldo learnt to be more direct and shun excess showboating...same way I’ve learnt to cut out excess plot twists, anyway I might as well issue a fair warning...the story is about to come to an end as the first part of the securing The Bag series...there will be a concluding book 2; Securing The Bag (the satchel of Eziza...) about the adventure proper. The main reason I had to break it down into 2 books is because of the extensive research I have to carry out...having never even been to the North before. Anyway expect concluding updates for book 1 latest by weekend. Jah bless

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Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 7:44pm On Jul 08, 2021
Chapter 18


FUOYO

THINGS GET REAL

Jessy tried to assure him, "it doesn't mean they traced it or

"no...no...no...it's been over a week since Kenekelis died and they must have been putting serious surveilance since then...I can guess the moment they realized the enevelope was missing they'd printed Fuoyo's face and sent copies here ahead to frame you for whatever happened....because they knew we're coming for the treasure......I need to call my family....." He scratched his head....

"okay here bro, is Barakat on whatsapp?" I asked

"yes....."

"okay....my whatsapp line is a U.S number, works with vpn so its untracable....try call her on WhatsApp"

We huddled round him and watched him dial the number with trembling hands and the network went from calling to ringing.

"if it’s ringing then she's online, thank God" I announced hopefully

We all gave a sigh of relief and hurdled even closer around him, not minding we still stood at the lonely crossroad.

Finally she picked up and Kanaku broke into a smile. "Hello....Barakat.....Barakat how are you....how's Ruki? I'm coming back home, I love you all so much.... I was so scared I could lose my family and it made me realize you're all the treasure I need....I'll be in Lagos next tomorrow and we're going too get marri- -...hello? Barakat...why are you not responding?"

There was still silence, then we saw the notification light up the screen. (....wants to switch call to video)

He swiped up immediately, accepting the video switch and we all squinted at the screen, unsure of what we were seeing. I could see the couch I had squeezed myself in few nights ago, which meant the phone was on the tv stand opposite it. Barakat sat in the sofa and her eyes were swollen like she had been crying. Her sister sat on the handle of the chair, with her arm over her shoulder in a supportive stance.

"What's happened?"

At that point the phone shfted and the ceiling came intio view before dropping down to the face of a masked man. He glared at the camera. "Hold on a second, the boss is about to join this reunion."

A third party was attempting to join the video call and we all watched as the screen divided into 3 parts, The bottom half was dark, apart from 3 pairs of shining white eyes....; Kanaku, Jessy and me...the first half on the left showed the masked man, this time he held the phone up like a selfie, so Barakat was still in the frame, sitting on the sofa behind him. The second half showed a loading sign for about 20 seconds then suddenly we were staring at a white handsome middle aged man.

He smiled at us and his teeth were impecabbly white. He was dressed in a white spotless suit with white tie and his hair was white...too loud to be grey and sleeked back, whether from old age or artificial dye, I had no idea. But there was something powerful about him....and strange but it made me uneasy immediately. Despite his good and elegant looks, there was some kind of hardness and lack of empathy in his cold hard white eyes as he stared straight at us.

"What have you done to my family? where's Ruki?" Kanaku shouted.

"well well well....so these is the trio i've heard so much about...where in God's name are you....it’s dark and you look terrible..."

"I'm not going to repeat myself,,,if you harm my-"

he cut of Kanaku at once...."You'll do what? They could kill your wife right this moment before your eyes with just a snap of my finger...its up to you...if you wanna still save your unborn child and daughter"

"where is-"

"Shhh...you talk too much. Remain where you are....a Ford jeep would be pulling by any moment now to pick you up soon and bring you back to the same hotel you left in such a haste today...if you want to save your family cooperate and when you get here I'll make you my offer?"

"what do you want from us...we don't have anything" Jessy cried out..

"On the contrary...you have what belongs to me....and for your sake I hope you bring my diary with you or else this is all for nothing and you'll regret it"

"Your Diary...?"

"yes you barbaric coons, My diary...the time has come to reclaim what was mine...,"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.... "Are you a descendant of the Gene-"

"shh...there comes your ride....hey you Kanayo thug remember, any wrong move, your family dies tonight.." with this last threat to Kanaku he disconnected the line.

Kanaku quickly turned his attention to the other half screen. "Hey please give my wife the phone...lemme talk to her....Barakat its gonna be okay I promi-"

The line also disconnected.

"Bleep!"

Kanaku and I exclaimed

Just that moment a set of headlights approached us and I squinted, thinking it was another lorry from the farm we could follow to the town. But the vehicle stopped beside us and I noticed it wasn't a Lorry but a van. The door slid open and half a dozen flashlights glared into our faces. It wasn't blinding enough to obscure the view that the white lights were extensions, attached to some scary looking rifles.
"Get in"

The instruction was followed by the unmistakable cocking of loaded weapons and both Kanaku, Jessy and I raised our hands and got into the van slowly. Each of us thinking of the unthinkable danger we had foolishly entered because of the quest for adventure and legend.

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Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 7:31pm On Jul 08, 2021
::::::::::::
KANAKU

Crossroads


It was already dark by the time we got to the spot the Lorry had dropped us earlier. Jessy and Fuoyo were still numb from shock. I was numb too but I knew I had to come up with a solution. I had to try and think.

We stood at the crossroad, staring into space and doing nothing and it occured to me we really were at a crossroad.
I cleared my throat and looked at both sides of the road. There was no vehicle in sight. Finally I looked at my flabberghasted friends. "what was that about?"

"I don't know...." Jessy stammered....."They just pinned the murder case on us...why would that man do that? I don't know him"

"If I'm to guess I'll say he was paid and given the pictures, you heard what he said....we were spotted earlier in Town so they knew we'll be coming here"

"Who? who are the they?" Fuoyo asked

I shrugged, "The killer guys, the Boss Kenekelis worked for....the firm or whatever it is Mr D belonged to"

"Bleep!" Fuoyo swore again...."I can understand them having Jessy's picture-"

"I beg your pardon?" she interjected

"come on....you were dating the man....they believed you knew the whereabout of the diary right from time..."

"where's the diary?" I interrupted

"It's in my bag...Jessy's carrying it.....as I was saying, what I don't understand, is how did they find out about me? and why just me....why not you also...we both never knew Mr D personally or anything like that"

"your plate number" Jessy said suddenly.

"from the estate....Kenekelis' house remember....we killed him and we took the papers in the enevelope too"

"Bleep!" Jessy remembered another detail suddenly. "The camera! There was a camera recording in the room!"

We stared at each other in disbelief

"So, Kanaku is the only safe face for now...thank God for these costumes" She sighed

"What now?" Fuoyo asked

"we go back to our homes, lay low until this would pass and we forget about this cursed treasure...we clearly underestimated these people, we're no match, look what they pulled off in advance..put us down as the suspects before hand...what kind of power is that?"

"I agree...but how do we do it....there'll probably be lookouts in the Town now especially with the bounty from the so called white man the leader mentioned, the killers won't be far off"

"We'll have to create our own path. we'll hike North, sleep in the woods and by first light, find a vehicle to get us to Kaduna, from there it's straight to Lagos" I looked at the duo, "agreed?"

"yes"

I brought out my phone, thinking of calling the Lorry driver since we had become sort of friends and to ask him when next he was passing by this route. My signal bar was empty.

"Fuoyo let me use your phone"

"No I wouldn't advice that....for them to get my whatsapp picture that means my phone is probably being monitored”

"what if they're tracing us with your phone right now as we speak!" Jessy was almost in hysterics

"Jess relax.......if they trace my ip, they'll find themselves a Hawai location where a fictional chracter works the shore as a rescue pilot...as long as we don't use our local network to make any call or for anything else, we'll be fine, and even with local calls it's easier to trace the number receiving the call than to try to triangulate our current location because we’re in motion”

"I don't know much about these stuffs...are you sure?" I asked him

He nodded "positive, its kinda my line of work so trust me on this"

I nodded. "we need to find somewhere to camp for the night..."

"camp? like in the movies are you se-"
Jessy didn't get to finish her statement cause I suddenly whirled around and gripped Fuoyo by his collar

"Hey what is it!" he was shocked

I didn't care, a dreadful cold was running through my body, chilling my bones and making the hairs at the back of my neck stand.

"Your phone! I used it to call Barakat back in the bus park!"

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Literature / Re: Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle) by souloho19(m): 7:35am On Jun 23, 2021
:::::::::::::::

JECINCTA

Reality Jolt

I was caught up with Fuoyo's story. He told me everything about himself, his life, his family, his school life and his unbelievable nonchalant attitude to his studies, then he told me about his close friend Shaq and how he got caught up in the yahoo life and about Lori Mau and how he found himself running from two colleagues who believe he had stolen their money. I was intrigued when he rounded up, explaining how Kanaku came into the picture after the boys hired him to deal with Fuoyo.

"And that was how we ran into you that night, I really didn't know what I was doing...Kananku is such a mean bastard I thought he'll kill me"

"You know the crazy thing?" I asked him, "The both of us went through changes almost the same period"

He glanced at me, and his eyes were unreadable for a second, and I felt he was holding back from asking me something. He didn't hold it in for long. "How long have you known Mr D....and did you really love him?"

It was a simple enough question but hard to answer. I had known him for almost 3 years, I had come to care about him a lot, I liked him, and had deep affection for him, but did I love him? What exactly was love anyway and how did someone know when it was love? Before I could give him an answer, the Lorry jerked and came to a abrupt stop, causing Fuoyo and I to grip the railings tightly. I heard Kanaku exchange pleasantries fluently with the Driver and hop out the passenger door.

"he speaks hausa fluently too" I murmurred

"full of surprises, that one..." Fuoyo agreed before Jumping out the back of the Lorry. He stretched his hand to help me but I ignored and jumped down as well. They saw me as a fragile person, the weak link, someone who would slow them down and I was going to prove them wrong and show I could be just as tough as them. Even when a sharp sprain spread through my ankle, I kicked it off and refused to limp or wince.

Fuoyo smiled at me, "you know you have a serious ego problem right?"

I'd heard that a lot of times, from my parents, to teachers and classmates to Fifi and now Fuoyo.

"There's nothing wrong with having an ego and I have a healthy one" I replied him fixing the straw hat atop my head, it was bigger and kept sliding down to cover my eyes.

"suit yourself" He actually snapped his fingers and whistled and the sheep immediately hopped off the Lorry and practically into his hands
"Woah" he exclaimed, patting the sheep affectionately

Kanaku's ram was more stubborn and took a lot of pulling and tugging before it finally got subdued and stoped trying to get away from him.

"It's like Fuoyo was a shepherd in another life" he commented after finally getting the ram under his control and tugging the rope. He waved the driver off once more and turned to face us.

"The time is already almost 5, the good news is I got directions to the ranch, but the bad news is there's no hotel in this village. The closest is still in the Town we left hurriedly"

"That means we do this together like we planned originally" I chipped in.

He frowned at me in reply

"What?"

"why are you wearing your jeans under the wrapper?" he sighed tiredly

"I can't wear just a wrapper...no way" I insisted

"But it's a perfect camouflage"

"It can't be perfect...I'm backing a knapsack...Fuoyo is rolling a traveling bag behind him...it's good enough.."

"But-"

"no buts Kanaku, what if we have to run suddenly? do you know how it would slow me down? especially with this ridiculous sackclothe I'm wearing" I was firm

He nodded. "you have a point..." He turned and observed the path and I followed his gaze

There were thatched roofs and huts and manual water pumps here and there, plus a cleared path with four standing tires the children no doubt used for goalposts when they played street football.

There was no sign of life and Kanaku turned to us once more. "This is the outskirt...the driver isn't from this village but he did say there's a popular ranch some kilometers east." He pointed with his hand then tugged the rope, pulling the reluctant ram behind him.

::
I stayed in the middle and Fuoyo brought up the rear, making cute noises at his sheep like one would do to a baby.

"remember, we're farmers, passing through the village if anybody asks" Kanaku announced

"where exactly is everybody?" I asked worriedly. We had now passed atleast a dozen thatch houses and yet there was no sign of life yet

We picked up our pace and walked for 30 minutes before we saw the first sign of life.
An elderly woman, walking barefoot with a chewing stick in her mouth and a distant look in her eyes. Kanaku attempted to greet her but she just kept on walking, not sparing a glance at all.

It was when we finally got to the turning of the cattle ranch we understood why the village was so empty. There was a crowd of over 500 people hurdled together, listening intently to one of their villagers who spoke rapid Hausa and couldn't seem to stop his hands from fidgeting and shoving two sheets of paper into the faces of the crowd around him.

I looked around and noticed a smaller group of people gathered round another villager who held a bundle of papers which he was sharing to the people around him, even from the distance I noticed the pages were coloured...looked like pictures of two people.

Wondering what the cause of the chaos was, I continued to inspect the surroundings until I saw it in the distance; burnt black grass, blackened wood and ash spread over what had to be at least an acre of land. The ranch had been burnt to the ground. The only remaining structure was a barbed wire fence a good distance away which housed about a hundred cows.

I tapped Kanaku's shoulder, "what's he saying?"

"He's saying two strangers from the South are responsible for the attack and fire on the ranch late last night....they murdered the watch men...." he shut his eyes tight in pain, "and two children died in the fire"

"Bleep" Fuoyo cursed, "It must be those same murderous bastards from the hotel....this would mean they're close by...."

"That's exactly what he's saying....he mentioned two culprits.." Kanaku strained his ear, we were a little distance from the murmuring crowd. "wait a minute....he says it's a female and a male"

I looked at him, "are you sure?"

"that's what he's saying....it looks like he's the chief or leader of the community or something..."

The man kept on talking and I suddenly had a terrible feeling. I tugged Kanaku who was still trying to follow the conversation. "I think we should leave..."

The words were just out of my mouth when the speaker got down from the small podium and approached the smaller crowd. He barked a couple of words rudely at the smallish man who immediately handed bulk of the sheets to the people around him and they began to spread it quicker to the others, circulating it faster.

He watched the papers spread and announced in broken english, "The pictures you're being given be the killers...the bastard infidels, They were sight in the Town early today, they will come back.....(then he switched back to Hausa which Kanaku translated in shock)
"There's a big reward from the white man for anyone who sees and reports them....They are dangerous so don't let them fool you to take care of them or else they will kill you like they did the Allama family and raid the graves of your ancestors and burn your houses to the ground when they're finished!"

A woman in a hijab finally passed me the pictures of the suspect and handed one over to Fuoyo and Kanaku.

"Nagode" I thanked her

"what the Bleep!" Fuoyo was the first to gasp,
luckily the uniform murmurings of the crowd meant his voice wasn't audible. I wanted to tell him to lower his voice and ask what on earth made him exclaim in such a manner but then I looked down at the paper in my hand and I was also too shocked to speak. I wondered how they had been able to get such a close up picture of me. I remembered the day in particular because of the hoop earrings I had been wearing, the picture was about a year old, I had accompanied Mr D to a fundraising dinner and he had bought me the gold earrings specifically for the event. I seemed to be looking straight at the camera judging by the angles of my eyes but with no idea that my picture had been taken. Someone had taken my picture without me knowing....maybe they had been watching me all this while? It was hard to fight back the panic but I tried my best.

The second half of the picture was Fuoyo, the resemblance was unmistakable, he looked straight at the camera and even smiled, shutting his right eye in a cocky wink and kissing a neck chain with a gold lion head pendant`.

"That's my previous whatsapp dp...." he stammered "....how, when....."

The leader began to thrust the paper to the air and shout and the crowd joined.

I was paralyzed with fear. Shocked, confused and out of my depth.

Thankfully Kanaku had seen and heard enough, he turned away and grabbed my cold hands in his.... "Fuoyo close your mouth for God's sake and scram before someone recognizes you..."

His legs obeyed him and he spun ahead of us and we all hurried towards the path we had come.

We didn't say a word as we walked through the empty village. We were completely shaken and confused, we didn't even know what to ask.

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