…Continued from Chapter Six
They say if you hear the sound of the gunshot, the bullet was most likely not directed at you. The crying sound from the other room suddenly ceased and everywhere became very quiet again. My heart began to race really fast, what next? Would it be me? I’m not ready to die? Will they shoot me as they did to the person in the other room? This barrage of questions flooded my mind as I contemplated my imminent death.
The men interrogating me rushed off into the other room to see what had transpired as the lights came back on, and then more gunshots went off. This time it sounded more like an exchange of fire, someone else had entered the scene. The exchange of fire stopped and after a few minutes, a man walked in with blood flowing down his arm. He had been shot and was bleeding seriously, as he walked towards me I began to plead.
“Please don’t shoot me, I don’t know anything” I cried, terrified as he approached me.
“I’m not here to kill you,” he said as he began to untie me.
I could not believe what was happening, a stranger was about to set me free, it was too good to be true. Part of me thought he’d still kill me once he was done untying me.
“Take that way” pointing to a door “leave here now! And don’t tell anyone what you’ve seen this place, not even the police”
I was tired and very dehydrated but I ran as fast as my legs could carry me without looking back. On my way out, I saw two bodies on the ground but I kept running until I was outside the compound. The building I was held in was at an isolated location surrounded by bushes.
I followed the narrow car trail and kept on going, falling several times. I came out to a major express and tried to flag down passing cars but it was dark and there was no one in sight. Eventually, one man stopped and I quickly hopped into his car.
Driver: “What are you doing out at this time?”
“Good evening, Just take me anywhere from here, just move away from here!” I replied hysterically, looking back to see if anyone was following me.
“Una no dey hear even after dem don warn una, this thing na tradition!” he sounded like he was chastising me.
“Just leave here first!” I replied by urging him to move faster. “Where are we?” I asked
“This is Ikorodu and you know today is the first day of the Oro festival.” Sounding surprised.
“Ikorodu?! Oro festival?!” I replied in shock, “but the party was at Ikoyi” I thought to myself.
“And for a woman,” he continued “you’re not supposed to be seen outside at this time.”
“Why?” I inquired.
“It is forbidden! If you are seen, you will be used as a sacrifice to the god of Oru. No woman is allowed to come out during the Oro festival here in Ikorodu.”
I was already very traumatized by the ordeal I’d just been through only to be faced with another potentially life-threatening situation.
“We are heading to Ikeja now; don’t worry, just pray we don’t meet any one of them on our way.”
He seemed really nice. I was very afraid and I was about to tell him what I’d just been through but I remembered that I was told to remain quiet. No other car was in sight at this late hour “finally I was out of danger” I heaved a sigh of relief.
But as we approached the last bridge that led out of Ikorodu, we heard a loud explosion; one of the tires burst while on top speed and the driver lost control. It was Deja Vu all over again.
To be continued next week…