Nnamdi sat in the warehouse, an empty one wondering what was going out in the real world. Instead of been bored, Nnamdi decided to trace his steps and find out how what the heck was happened, why was he kidnapped and he was being set up. Neck deep in thought of why he was chosen to bear this cross, he had called them to inform them of the bombs at the bridge meanwhile he was the one who supervised the planting of the bombs. Its strange, he thought.
Recalling the events of the past 36 hours from the beginning.
He was coming home and was late that day, almost 12 midnight. He drove into the lonely and desserted street and he continued honking, no response, the gateman was definitely asleep. Nnamdi got out of the car, to knock on the gate himself. As he exited the vehicle and moved towards the gate, he saw a car speeding down the street.
His first thought was one of the crazy ‘money-miss-road ‘ over-speeding drivers taking advantage of the free road, but he thought wrong. The car stopped abruptly and a group of boys came out, there were 3 in number, they weren’t wearing masks or hiding their identities in anyway, it was dark everywhere, no streetlights were on. Been confident of his military training, he thought they were thieves who wanted to steal his car, he already calculated in his head, how he would attack the 3 of them closing in him on him.
His initial calculation was to land a hard head-butt at the guy in the middle, leave him to bleed to death, move swiftly to deliver a deadly punch to the face to the guy on the left, closing in on the right guy to punch him close to death. He was so sure they wouldn’t have the time to pull out a gun because he finishes taking them out.
As Nnamdi landed the headbutt on the guy in the middle, he moved towards the guy on the left. Unfortunately, the guy on the right brought out an electric Taser and shot 50,000 volts of electricity into him, Nnamdi’s body went into series of spasms.
That was all he could remember until when he woke up in the abandoned warehouse. He had been stripped of everything he had, his wallet, mobile phone. All he had on him asides from the cloth was a weird looking phone and a small transistor radio.
The phone was close looking to a satellite phone but this phone is different.
Waking up after the almost 16 hours of sleep, a terrible headache brewed up in his head. He lay there on the ground, bloodstains on his shirt, the blood from the guy he head-butted on the nose.
He sat up, trying to decipher what the heck happened last night, why he was kidnapped, thought long and hard but still couldn’t remember who would do such a thing, then the phone call came.
The ringtone of the phone was quite annoying, a private number. Nnamdi picked
“Hello” Nnamdi said after waiting for 5 seconds when he pressed the answer button.
“I was wondering when you’ll say something, was that part of your training?” The Voice asked, slowly and beaming with unbelievable confidence, the voice had a little bit of baritone.
Nnamdi was still silent
“Lets cut to the chase here, I bet you’re wondering why I had you kidnapped?” The voice continued
“Yes” Nnamdi replied
“I just need a quick favor from you, I need you to spear head a team for me, lead them to set up several bombs at a public locations” The voice said
“Location” The voice corrected himself
“Why would I do that at all?” Nnamdi blurted out.
“Hmmm… for a couple of reasons but I like one of them the most, I have your family, they’re under constant supervision. I will kill everyone of them, slow and very very painful” The voice said slowly, as he spoke his voice grew from gentle to rage and anger.
There was a moment of silence, no one said anything for about 5 seconds then the voice continued
“I’m glad we can both agree on this. I have always had my eye on since the case of the Vice President’s son. Let’s not dwell on the past,
Now…. The team will be ready this night, you will lead them, further instructions soon, You will be the pointsman. The news of the bomb will leak, hopeful someone will see us, also you will call the Commissioner of Police. Do you understand ?” The voice said
“Yes” Nnamdi said
“I’m glad we’re on the same page, you will wait for further instructions. There is a transistor radio, use that as you wish. Au revoir” The voice said and the line went dead.
Nnamdi began pondering why his kidnapper will want to blow up a place and still draw people’s attention to the place. He began to contemplate on several things at the same time; maybe it was a decoy he thought to himself. Another question came up. If it was a decoy, what’s the main plan then?
He switched on the transistor radio, just after the news, an advert about a powerful crusade came on the air. The revival advert was the least of his problem.
The JTF team of 2 officers took a speedboat to the shore, paddling in between the wooden construction on the water. The officers got down and approached an old man working on his net. The operatives introduced themselves.
“Good evening, Sir” One of the operatives said
“Good evening, my sons” the warm old man said, he replied without looking at the people talking to him.
“My name is Eric Okagbue and this is my colleague, Niyi Awe. We are from the Joint Task Force, something happened last night.”
The Old man turned when he heard that last part of the statement and looked at them from head to toe, he continued back with the fishing net he was sorting out.
“So, how that one come ‘consign’ me” The Old man said
“Who are those that do night fishing that you know of?” Eric asked
“We no dey do night work again, the season for night fishing don pass, even me sef dey follow dem go well well ” The old man said
“Papa, abeg try remember who you think say fit go last night” Niyi pleaded
“E be like say Papa theo go last night, him tell me say him wan go” The old man said
“Where Papa Theo house dey?” Niyi asked
The old man pointed to a couple of houses down, the officers ran down the shore to the house.
They met Papa Theo in front of the house drinking with a couple of his friends. Niyi started,
“Good afternoon sirs, please who is Papa theo”
A scrawny looking old man with pure diction and a clean accent answered
“Who are you and what do you want?”
“There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about sir, we just want to ask you about your fishing trip last night” Eric said
“My trip was unsuccessful, I dint come back with anything, not even 1, I got frustrated and came back some minutes after 1 o’clock” Papa said
“Did you see anything happening underneath the bridge by that time, did anything strange happen? ” Eric asked
“Nothing was out of the ordinary asides Frank, my friend’s son who stormed past me smelling of alcohol and weed, maybe you should ask him” Papa Theo said
“Where was he heading, sir” Eric asked, Niyi moved closer to them.
“The idiot dint even greet him, I don’t know where he was heading but he definitely isn’t going to fish away, he must be heading to the foot of the bridge to smoke weed” Papa Theo said
“Where is his house, sir” Niyi asked
As Papa Theo was about to direct them to his house, Akeem walked past Papa Theo’s house. Papa Theo swiftly pointed to Akeem that the officers should ask him that they are friends.
Akeem not knowing what he is been fingered for, took a look at the guys Papa Theo was talking to and ran like crazy. Eric and Niyi went after him, Akeem was laughing and running at the same time, screaming all sorts of insults at the people after him.
He kept looking back as he ran knowing all the corridors and corners of Ilaje, he kept screaming as he ran through.
“Frank is gone, thank God he left before you people came” Akeem screamed.
Akeem continued running, maneuvering through the tight passageways of the creeks of the wooden houses on the water. With divided attention, Akeem took the wrong turning, he couldn’t slow down anymore. He hit his head against a locked door, broke his nose, he hit the floor pretty bad and stayed there in agonizing pain.
Eric and Niyi slowed down and met up with him and squatted beside him. Akeem kept cursing in Yoruba against the people after him.
“Why you dey run” Niyi asked him
“Why I no go run, una be Police na” Akeem replied
“How you take know?” Niyi asked
“Una no get bear bear na, una come dey wear boot again, I don tey for Lagos, I know una jare” Akeem said, holding his hand to his nose
Niyi and Eric laughed
“Where is Frank and how did you know we were looking for him?” Niyi asked
“Him tell me wetin happen last night na, I tell am say una go come, him nearly no believe me…” Akeem said
“So, where is he going ” Eric asked him
“I no no, I just tell am to comot before una come” Akeem remained adamant.
BK got back home around 6pm, tired from all the explanation and narration of what happened the previous night, then some other people came in with some guy bleeding from the nose, dint even have time to find out if that’s the guy that was in the boat.
He switched on the electronic gadget switch, and went to the fridge to get something cold to drink. The TV station was tuned to a local station as the advert of the crusade played.
BK thought to himself, hundreds of thousands of people would be made at this crusade. With people trooping to the Tafewa Balewa Square, the income from the crusade will be unbelievable.
BK switched the channel back to CNN to listen to news as he slept off on the couch.
Frank was leaving his known area moving to a place where he had no contact, he thought about his family and friends especially his father who he dint make up with before leaving. He questioned the thought of even leaving without telling anybody, was it really a good option for him right now.
He was somehow regretting the decision but knowing the Nigeria Police, he might probably be named the culprit or mastermind behind the whole plot to bomb the bridge. Frank was also kind of happy he took that decision knowing what the Nigerian Police are capable of.
He was heading towards Ajah, he had to first say goodbye to his girlfriend at Obalende, he was meant to spend a couple of minutes, rather he spent hours. She made sure he ate but he still couldn’t tell her he was running away from home.
His girlfriend, Laide was aware of the tension between Frank and his father and she pleaded with Frank to be more patient but Frank’s mother always maintained that Frank was as stubborn as his father.
“Have you resolved with your father” Laide asked
“I haven’t spoken with him today, he left early while I was still asleep” Frank replied with no guilt in his voice at all.
“What about your mum” Laide quizzed
“She’s alright, she should be at the crusade by now, she went to join a free bus to the place from Adekunle bus stop” Frank replied
“I was meant to go for that crusade too but heavy traffic everywhere. It will be televised anyway.” Laide said
Frank wanted to tell Laide about the event of the previous night but he dint want to involve her. He hadn’t spoken to Akeem yet; he wanted to arrive at the friend’s house in Ajah before calling Akeem to tell him how it all went.
Laide tuned her television set to LTV to watch the crusade, they both joined the crusade by watching it live.
The time was 7PM, the crusade started at about 5:30pm. The crusade was packed to the brim, causing heavy traffic around the Lagos Island axis.
The air around was electrifying, with praises been rendered in loud choruses, people were singing at the top of their voice, dancing away.
Frank’s mother was lost in praises unto the Almighty God, no one knew the crowd was infiltrated by suicide bombers, no one knew the large speakers on the stage of crusade were rigged with explosives.
As the man of God arrived the altar, he beamed with excitement as the crowd kept shouting to God.
The pastor screamed, “Shout Halleluyah!!!!”
The crowd gave a resounding Halleluyah, the whole atmosphere was electric, and the roaring of the crowd gave raise to more chants to the Almighty. The 6 suicide bombers have been placed in strategic places.
The explosion started from the altar, fire rocked the stage, the speakers went up in flame before sending down fire balls into the crowd, killing all the people on the stage, injuring the crowd, next after the explosion was the suicide vest going off.
The atmosphere turned from happy and joyful to tears, blood and gore, arms ripped from their bodies. The explosion killed 30% of the crowd, injuring another 40% of the crowd, the explosion killed Frank’s mother, she was close to one of the suicide bombers.
Every news station in the country immediately aired it as breaking news, so did CNN.
When BK woke from his nap on the couch, the first thing he saw on CNN was breaking news of the terrorist attack in TBS, Lagos.The news was everywhere, he couldn’t but consider that this was the main attack, the bombs planted at the bridge was just a decoy for this.
Frank couldn’t believe his eyes as the crusade turned into explosion, his first thought was his mother, he ran out of Laide’s house in Obalende, running straight to TBS, panting as he ran through the inner streets of Lagos Island, from Berkley street to McCarthy street.
He got to the venue and didn’t even know where to looking, emergency disaster agencies were trying to sort, the deceased, the injured and the unarmed.
He ran through the crowd, he saw the dead bodies been arranged and he saw his mum, lying there dead.
Tears dropped from his eyes as he watched the body of his mother, lifeless.
Nnamdi heard on the radio about the explosion and thought to himself, this definitely was the Phase II.
The mastermind diverted security forces away from the Lagos Mainland, especially police officers at Kam Salem at Obalende. He knew the Police and other security team will still be there looking to see if there were any more bombs. Thereby starving the Lagos Island of enough policemen to efficiently monitor the crusade going on at TBS.
Now, the problem is what does he want from me exactly?
The mastermind sat down finalizing his list, the breaking news of the explosion of every channel on the TV including international stations.
The living room is very palatial, big, which royal decorations. Holding a jotter close to his chest, the jotter consists of all action plans, the entire phases detailed, he opened to phase 3 and smiled to himself.
Phase 3 and 4 were the most technical, right after that is the New Order for Nigeria.
He flipped it to the last pages, carefully looking through the names and offices they would assume as soon as its all done. He flipped back to the second page with a bold name written in the center of the page, HASSAN.
His first demand would be to release Hassan from prison, Hassan is currently in Kuje prison awaiting execution for charges of Treason, he was the leader of a failed coup attempt. He has been remanded in prison for more than 8 years. He is the Mastermind’s boy.
Its time for him to be re-introduced into the society, and for his grand plot he had been planning for over 15 years to come to into play. He smiled to himself.
He put the jotter back into his breast pocket as he grabbed his walking stick and walked back into the gardens to join his grand-children.
“Grandpa, Grandpa” They said as they ran towards him.
This post has already been read 12012 times!
