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Life is full of stories, full of diverse experiences. Some sweet and beautiful, while some could be quite bitter, if you know what I mean.
I have seen a lot, the good, the bad, ugly, you name it. I have seen enough to fill 100 big textbooks. I remember sharing a story of how Bandits attacked a bus I was travelling in. I was shot, left for dead, somehow I survived. Like every other person 'story plenty'
If I am to regale you with my experiences, omo, we will be here till next year, but there are some stories and experiences that are quite remarkable. One particular incident happened not too long ago that has refused to leave my mind. Each time I think of what happened this fateful day, I still ask myself , how did it happen. Why was mine different? Please stay with me.
It was a fateful Saturday. The day has broken into what looked like a beautiful day. If there was a sign of how that day was going to play out, I could have missed it.
I had woken up as early as 5am. I was travelling back to Lagos. I had gone to Port harcourt for some deliveries. I had finished late the previous day, Friday. Didn't complete all I had to do as I got delayed a lot.
I got to the park this particular morning, got my ticket, waited for the bus to fill up. After few minutes, we left the park. Our journey to Lagos has started in earnest.
Journey was smooth and lively as we all interacted freely with each other. Like any journey, We went from city to city, state to state. We got to Edo state, then the unexpected happened.
Getting to Edo state, the driver had the option to go through the city or take a bye pass. I had hoped we take the city route so we could see the town and activities inside the town. The bye pass is normally lonely and full of bushes. Always boring passing through there. The driver decided to take the bye pass. Well, there is nothing one could do about that. If only we knew.
Somehow, I found myself feeling sleepy, approximately 20 minutes into the road. Without warning, I was jolted by a very loud sound. It was gun shots. Our vehicle is being attacked by Bandits. I could count about six of them. We were surrounded. All of them heavily armed with AK47. My heart left my body.
They shouted at the driver to stop the engine. Out of fear, he was hesitant. He didn't know whether to go forward or backwards. This got them angry and they pointed the gun at him ready to shoot if he makes a false move. He eventually stopped the vehicle, they nearly killed him for wasting their time. They stabbed him on his buttocks with a dagger, and twisted the dagger while it was still inside his body. It was a chilling sight to see.
Immediately the vehicle stopped, they opened the door and commanded everybody to come down. They searched everyone and collected all we had on us.
After emptying our pockets, they started shooting and told us to run. We all ran into the near by bushes. I ran like I have never ran before.
From the bushes, where we were, we could see them ransacking the whole bus. They were carrying every item in the bus into the Bush. I could see them going into and out of the Bush with people's belonging. My bag should be among the bags they are carrying. I looked for tears, I could not see.
I had over 800,000 naira inside of my bag. It was money paid for the supplies I made. That was all the money I had. I had been building it up for some time now.
Like I said, the money was paid to me the previous day. I could not deposit it into the bank because it was late and banks had already closed. I had urgent matters to attend to in Lagos so I had no choice but to travel with it that day.
As I watched them packing all our belongs, I told myself I have lost it all. Where do I start from?
After what seemed like forever, they left and finally went into the Bush with their loots. People started coming out from where they have gone to hide. From 100 miles you could hear their wails. Everyone was crying. The criminals have carried all their belongings. You could see the anguish.
Reluctantly, I came out of the Bush, dazed, I was almost hit by a speeding oncoming vehicle. All is lost! I got to the bus, as I approached the door, behold what I saw was a marvel. Right in front of me, staring at me, was my bag. "Is this playing, what type of playing is this?" Lol. I was shocked.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Immediately, I grabbed my bag. Examined it, it doesn't look like it was touched. I took it to a corner, opened it, lo and behold, every bit of my money was complete. The whole 800,000 naira. How? I though I saw them carrying it with others into the Bush. I couldn't contain my joy.
I knelt down on the expressway to show my gratitude to God but quickly got up. I felt it might be too insensitive of me. Everyone, no exception, was crying because they have lost some things, some even everything they were traveling with. It was not a good sight.
I was happy for my self, but felt terribly bad for others travelling with me. How do I testify how God saved my bag and money from being stolen but did not save theirs.
They were stranded, I was so happy to help them with transport fare as our driver could not continue the journey due to the dagger wounds. We had to take him to the nearest hospital.
Till today, this has been one of the most remarkable day of my life and I am really grateful for how it played out for me. But then how do you give thanks for the same situation that is causing others pains. Most people will never understand.
Picture from Ismael Paramo. unsplash.com
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