THE ESCAPE (2)

 How John Got Kidnapped

His eyes opened slowly, but he still saw only darkness. His head was heavy and he felt stiff. Trying to move his body was painful, but he had to move. How did he get here? Now, he remembered, he was running from his captors when he fell into the hole and lost his consciousness while landing. It was then he looked up and saw that it was dark above him; he could barely see the sky above. The hole must have been covered and that must have made the captors think he had disappeared or worse and probably given up their search for him.

They might continue tomorrow, or give up completely. How he wished he was through with this ordeal. John was safe, for now at least. He checked his watch, thankfully it was a digital watch and he could see the time clearly. It was 10:32 p.m. and he was feeling hungry and weak as he began to gather himself. He stood to assess his situation and realised that the hole wasn’t actually deep, roughly 6 feet in depth. 6 feet, wasn’t that the usual depth for graves? Was this where he would die? Then he remembered that it was a round hole, not rectangular, so he was not in a grave.

Climbing out of the hole, he surveyed his environment. It was dark, but not so quiet. Various night sounds filled the air, and John the rebel found himself enjoying nature in the outdoors, fancy that. He wished he was on a camping experience instead, and not trying to stay alive. This was another thing to add to his steadily growing list of things to do if he survived this ordeal, go camping.

There was no food nearby, surely there were no stores around, and not that he had any money on him. He looked around for a place to sleep, but after a while he decided that the hole was his best bet. He made his way back inside and began to recall how it all began.

It was a Saturday, and he could swear that not even a prophet could have foreseen how that day was going to turn out. It was the day they had finally agreed to go to the cinema in the city to see the latest movie that came out last week. It was “America or Bust”, and it was making all the waves on social media. It was the story of a villager who left his village in a bid to prove that there were also villages in developed countries and not just in Africa. The movie had initially sounded dumb to him, why couldn’t this villager just go to YouTube and prove that there were villages in every continent, and end the movie? Well, it was what Alero wanted, and he’d be damned if he didn’t do all he could to please her.

Longs had access to his father’s car and that was their ride to the city. They took off by 10 a.m., the movie was to start by noon and they wanted to arrive early, though the 45 km journey wouldn’t take an hour. Five of them, two guys and three girls; and his weekend was set to be fun. John wasn’t one to do his household chores on Saturday, there was always Sunday, after he had come back from playing ball. He always told his mother that he was only at home with them because he didn’t get admission into school, and it was only because of JAMB he was still with them. Students don’t leave their schools to come home for chores so why should he, because he wasn’t in school yet?

It was roughly a few minutes after 10:30 a.m. that John’s life was going to change. He felt the urge to relieve himself and he told them he was pressed. They teased him, especially Longs and Ada, asking him to be a man and hold a little pee in. He insisted and finally they had to stop. The only problem was that John was very self-conscious and could not afford to take a leak by the roadside. He told them he would go a bit further into the bush and Alero told him that no matter how far he went her eyes would be on him. This was enough to make John go further than he would have normally gone.

Further and further into the bush he went, curious to avoid being seen by passing vehicles and Alero, until he finally found a spot behind a large tree. He proceeded to do his business and he was almost done when he heard a sharp cry for help. It unnerved him, but he wasn’t the kind of person to fall for any silly call, and in the bush for that matter. Turning around to return to his crew, he realised that he had maybe come a bit too far. He could hear the sound of passing vehicles but couldn’t see the road ahead of him. He walked towards where he felt the road was and saw a shrub ahead of him. He wasn’t sure he had passed it while coming in, but he thought he saw the road and he was glad he had found himself.

As he bent to go past the shrub, he felt two powerful hands grab his neck as another slipped a piece of cloth round his mouth. Instantly, he found himself in the air and found himself powerless to do anything. Where they came from, he couldn’t tell, but how did that matter right now? A moist towel came over his face and in a matter of seconds, he had lost consciousness.

When he came to, he found himself tied up in a hall, with three other people in the same state as he was. The windows were sealed and the door, the only door there was, was locked. He sat up and steadied himself, gradually taking in his environment. He noticed that a fellow captive, a girl, lay still where she was. Was she dead, had they killed her? Who was going to be the next to die?

“Hello!” he heard, and turning in the direction of the voice, he saw that it was another captive who was speaking to him. It looked as though he was the youngest of them; the others looked like they were in their twenties. “I wish we didn’t meet here, but we are here and that’s what matters right now” the guy continued. “I am Khalid, and this is my second week here. We have all been kidnapped, and they do it for money. My observation is that they try to get us to call our people after a day or two, depending on how you cooperate, mine almost got into the third day, I was stubborn. If you cooperate with them, they contact your people and demand ransom. If you play according to their terms, they get the money and release you. If not, if your people try to play hard ball, you won’t walk out alive, a lady was beaten thoroughly last week before she was killed, you could see the blood if you look carefully over there.

“My ransom should be ready in two days, according to them. They asked for ₦2.5 million after negotiations. I don’t know how my family would raise the money, but they said it’s almost ready and would be complete by Monday. That lady over there, she has passed out three times this week. She wouldn’t eat, she just cries and weeps all day, I hope she doesn’t kill herself from exhaustion…”

He was interrupted by the entry of two burly men. “Hey, you” they said to John, “give us your name and your papa or mama number, make we call them tell them say you dey our side. If them send your money tomorrow when we call them, you don go be that, sharp sharp”. John obliged and they took down the details. “John, John,” the other one spoke, “make you no think say we get any issue with you o, we and you no get challenge. You see this life, person must hustle, and if man no see work, him must create work for himself. You be our guy, and we go treat you well, no shaking. We just be temporary caretaker for people wey make themselves available, and you be one of them. I finish polytechnic six years now, I no see anything do, but as e be now, thanks to people like you, I fit make money pass banker in one month. We dey help government create employment and control population. You fit call me Eagle, because I dey see everything from my mountain side, and make you no try think anything funny, like say you won run comot here, na that one we no dey forgive. Just feel at home, we for give you better bed and put DSTV for you, but as e be so, we never receive our budgetary allocation for the year, so just manage wetin we get for now”.

Eagle and his partner left, and John was too stunned for words

No one prepares to not sleep on the bed he woke from, certainly not John. Next week, we continue the story of his experience in the den of his captors.

Stay smart, and stay safe!