By Taiwo & Kehinde Oluwafunso, of PANAFEST Nigeria
It happened at Gbagada area of Lagos. My twin brother and I set out to go to UPS office there. Taiwo and I had set out before dawn, as Professor Wole Soyinka, titled one of his books, to keep an early morning appointment with the manager of United Parcel Services (UPS), Gbagada, about a parcel, we posted to Germany. The white lady in Germany never took delivery of the parcel, she waited long to no avail.
UPS disappointed us, we’re told sorry, going through their system, it was found out that our parcel got hooked up somewhere in Heathrow Airport, London. We accepted their apologies.
Then it happened. Our Encounter With these deadly Men.
Just as we crossed back to the other side going to Victoria lsland, right at where we were, at the 1st Pedro bus stop, a bus parked right in front of us, tall and heavily built men came out of the bus to hold us by our shoulders,
There Was A Policeman in front, ahead of us.
I was trying to run away but his fingers became so stiffened on my soft and tender flesh, l changed my strategy, l became softened as a loaf of bread thrown into the water, Taiwo, my twin brother kept so quiet, l could understand him (later), you don’t struggle with armed people, they were about 6 men in the bus, my bones tried to resist this nonsense again, then a pistol was brought out, it paired well with James Bond and Stallone short hand guns, in their movies, my spirit and cry of l no go gree with them became silenced, l thank God my twin brother, Taiwo, kept quiet like a jelly, l needed a little resistance from Taiwo to display in my own little way, Lagos boy rascallty, but what can we do in the presence of these dared devil human beings, all those waiting for buses at the bus stop ran away, including the vulcanizer permanently stationed at the bus stop, then our eyes opened wide to see arms and weapons deposited and displayed on the floor of the bus.
We Were Pushed lnto the bus, then the bus moved away. This is the end, i said to myself. God have mercy, l saw the hands and fingers of these men, heavy and thick fingers of satan, a simple slap from one of them could result in a total blindness and serious nose bleeding. We were careful not to step on any of these weapons so as not to trigger off a bigger trouble, suddenly, they were speaking In their local dialect, then the looking started, then the silence, then the sudden question:
ARE YOU GUYS, TWINS?
“Yes,” we answered as obedient children, then they turned to their local dialect, all we were hearing was, Ejima, Ejima, Ejima, (meaning twins), then one of them, perhaps the most handsome man, l had ever seen in my life, who was their boss cleared his voice.
THEY WERE BEGGING US.
“Guys, we are not looking for people like you. That sounded like a strange music from a foreign land, “he went further, please forgive us”, could this be a dream, it’s like a strange music from a foreign land, “driver, drop them off please.”
We were dropped off right in front of Mobil petrol station, Gbagada, we came down weeping, calling for our mother (who is now late).
When we got home, we narrated our experience to our mother, she cried and shouted, holding us tightly to herself, “evil men, do they know what l went through before I gave birth to the two of you? My sons, please don’t go out again for six months, l will be feeding you day and night, those evil men need not to see you again” We were at home for a whole week.
God is merciful, we are alive to tell the story today.
The Gbagada axis has been a dark spot for kidnappers and robbers for so many years.
Nigeria will overcome this by God’s grace, it’s just a phase, all we need to do is to be vigilant, at all times. Lebanon, as a nation went through a serious period of terrorism and banditry in the past, today, they are at peace. The government of President Bola Tinubu should remain focused and not give up.
