Blood And Thunder

Episode 1

Lagos, Oshodi “Ole! Ole!! Ole!!!” the people’s voices thundered under the hot sun as they chased furiously after a good looking young man with sticks and stones, machetes and iron rods. He didn’t stop running but rather increased his speed; there is a saying that the prey is faster than the predator and it is true because he gave the people a long gap, he was breathing heavily as he ran and then he saw a man running towards him with a big stick but he didn’t stop as he ran closer to the man who was about to hit him with the big stick but he held the man’s hand and punched him in the stomach and gave him a head booth to his eye then lifted him up and threw him on the people coming behind him and it slowed them down; they were surprised at that as some of them stopped but others continued.

He was about to make a turn in a street when he saw police men coming that way, so he diverted to a compound which had its gate opened and the mobs ran in with him and so did the police men; he ran all the way to the backyard and jumped the fence like it was nothing; after throwing two quick steps on the wall, he flipped over it and landed in another compound. The compound he entered was a 4storey building, he looked back and saw that the people were trying to climb over too so he quickly ran and as he approached the gate he saw a police man coming so he ran into the building and climbed upstairs; the building was quiet. He ran into the 3floor and saw a door opened and he quickly entered the door and shut it but didn’t look back “Who are you?!!” a voice yelled and he turned in fear and saw a lady ‘Please help me, some people want to kill me” he said breathing heavily ‘Kill you? Haaaa please go, am scared o, I will shout o” “Haaaa please I am begging you with the grave of my mother” he begged whole heartedly “Then why run if you are not a thief?” “They are with dangerous weapons, pleas hide me I beg” he was sweating; from the way he begged even if she was a 4 years old girl he would kneel down and call her Ma “Ok, come inside my room and stay there” she said standing up “Thank you God bless you” he said and followed her She took him into her room and locked the door behind him, he sat on the bed and felt relieved as he relaxed on the bed “So this is how I would have died for nothing” he thought to himself, he started remembering how it all started.

How he left his home like a normal man to go meet someone who owed him money, more interestingly it was the guy who called him to come for his money but on arrival the guy denied calling him; he became angry and they started exchanging negative words and then got into a fight and he beat up the guy and that was how the problem started.

The guy yelled out loudly Thief! Thief!! Ole! E won kill me o, e gba mi o, the guy shouted and from nowhere people came out and grabbed him and before he could say a word a slap landed on his face and then another slap and then some started looking for sticks and the people increased. They didn’t even allow him speak, he then remembered how 4 boys were killed like this in Port-Harcourt and he remembered the video. He was afraid of his own death but he knew he was not ready to die like that and then suddenly he pushed the crowded and they fell massively and he took off like a cheetah chased by a lion…

As he sat on the bed think about that, the door suddenly opened and the lady comes in the room with the mobs “Na him be that” she said pointing at him and before he could make a move, a big stick landed on his head and he shouted in pain but there was no sympathy and another stick landed and before knew it, they were hitting him with different objects and he could hear the lady cheering them. he was just protecting his head with his hands and it seemed it would never stop as the pains increased. “Stop it, enough!!” somebody yelled as he came into the room “E don do abi you dey mad” a policeman said as he pushed a man aside “Na thief we go kill am” the mobs shouted “Yes!!” “No worry, we don arrest am” the police man said as he and his partner lifted him up and cuffed him. His face was swollen and his body hurt, he was bleeding on his face; he looked around at the people at the people and everything seemed to be happening in slow motion in his head as they took him out the room. He saw the lady who took him in and as he looked at her she slapped his eye “Why you dey look me? Ole!” she said loudly He lowered his head as the police took him passed the people, some were slapping the back of his head and some knocking him and rained abuses on him The police men took him out and put him in their van and drove off as the mobs crowded outside the environment. Ironically, he was happy the police had arrested him, he knew that the police station was heaven compared to the hands of those blood thirsty mobs. He sat down quietly with his hands cuffed between his thigh, his breathing was calm and kept looking at the streets and the people who were staring at him. It was a normal belief in Nigeria that anyone found at the back of a police van was a criminal, so he wasn’t worried about the looks. The police man who sat beside him was just staring at him but he didn’t notice this “What’s your name?” the police asked “Sir?” he said as he quickly turned his head to face the officer but the officer just stared at him with that “are you deaf” look and he understood it “My name is Luke” he replied “Luke” the police man repeated “So you cannot go look for work, instead of stealing” “Am not a thief, sir. I only came to collect money from someone who was owing me but instead he raised false alarm on me” “Hmmm” the police man said “Yes sir” he replied thinking that the police officer would free him.