Been a long while I was here. Thanks guys for ur kind and encouraging words. I'm very good and have moved on. I should do blog round soon.
Sunday began as any other day. I went to church, from there to the salon and back to Abeokuta, just in time to watch the finals of MTN Project Fame.
Afterwards, FFF's neighbours from the next compound, who are my collegues at work, came over with another of my male colleague who came to visit and we were all gisting in my crib. I was in the kitchen cooking a native soup that my colleagues were waiting to taste. Besides, my male colleague was waiting for the rain to subside before going home.
One of my neighbours came to borrow my umbrella and said his friend, who was visiting will return it to me soon. It was 8pm.
Then someone knocked. Normally, I will ask from my window who it was before opening the main door. Better still, if I am alone, and there is light, which there was, my curtain will be down, and I wouldn't answer anyone who knocked, because we all have keys to either the front door or the back entrance, and when my curtain is down, you wouldn't know if I am in or not.
But while my male colleague was checking to see through the window, I already opened my door because I was staning behind it.
"Who?" I asked.
"It's me Sola," he answered.
"Who is Sola?" I asked. I didnt know the name of my neighbour's friend, and because of the light inside and outside, I couldn't see properly through the partial glass on the door because of my own reflection.
"It is Sola, open the door na?" he sounded a bit irritated I was still asking and that made me embarrassed because I then believed it was my neighbour's friend who was to return my umbrella. So I opened the door. He entered and I looked at him and my eyes followed his hand to his pocket as a gun came out and two other guys with guns entered behind him. I died.
My first instinct was to scream to alert the others. But I didn't. As I was pushed towards my room, I was thinking and praying. When I stepped inside, I tried to shut the door on them, but they were stronger. They asked the four of us to lie down. I was still standing. My three colleagues were already flat on the rug. I didn't believe it was happening. Then I was told again to lie down. I knelt down first, as I watched two of them descend on my wardrobe. The third one carried my two laptop bags to the bed. One of them went into my kitchen and turned off my gas. At a point, I was lying down too. But I was not quiet because I kept calling on Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the robbers kept screaming at me to shut up.
It was when one of them came to me and started dropping my ear rings on the floor around me, and a second one stood over me, touched my waist, where my jeans stopped, that it occured to me they could rape. I kept quiet and started to pray inward.
I was asked to get up and take them round all my neighbours. I tried to plead and I was slapped thrice. My face still hurts.
It was a terrible night. They found some rooms opened with easy access, and broke down doors, where the occupant was out. They left with laptops, every phone, money, perfumes etc. And they left scars on us all.
I kept questioning God why He didn't interrupt the operation. I kept asking Him to and He was quiet. That was how I felt. And remembering that I was the one who opened the door, I die all over again. But later, we all thanked Him, the incident took place when it did, else it would have been worse. I have a neighbour who always sits outside at night to make calls because the service is poor in her room. What if she was outside?
What if we were seeing off our male colleague who came to visit, and we were stopped by the robbers, who actually parked their car under a tree, watching the house? What if it was another neighbour who had a visitor too, and she was seeing him off? What if they had followed the neighbour's friend back, who was returning my umbrella, and I was alone? What if when it happened, we were all alone on our beds? As of when it happened, every one of us were not alone. We all had visitors. There are so many what ifs, but I feel terrible.
FFF had left for Lagos the day before, and her neighbours were with me. Later we discovered the robbers went to their compound first, seeing no one, they came to ours.
I do thank God for preserving our lives. All the material things lost can be replaced. All my stories and projects on the laptop, He will inspire me again to write better ones. But I feel very bitter because I lost so much of my office documents, including the flash I use as backup. I feel really bad and so confused because it was just two months ago I had a terrible accident and the car has been written off. I had recovered fine from the trauma of that accident believing God preserved my life for a purpose. And then getting robbed in my home where I should feel safe?
I try not to think about it, but when I close my eyes, I see the hand that went into the pocket and returned with a gun. And when I remember how one of those guys stood over me, I fight to breathe again, because I cannot imagine what I would have done if rape had been the story. I wont be here typing this.
I do thank God, but I'm still very shaken. Don't know if I can still remain in Abeokuta. And I am asking God to please help me. I don't want to crash. I'm so close to the ground.
The dialogue below is once upon a chat with my brother, on yahoo messenger, last year. Me: how far? Brother: was attacked by armed robbers on my way home on Thursday Me: hmmm. Ur phone again? (I asked this because my brother is so glued to his phone. He lost it one night when someone just reached into the car he was sitting in, in traffic, collected the phone while he was trying to place a call, and robber disappeared. My brother saved and bought same phone again). Brother: u won't believe they shot the driver and the passenger beside me Me: what happened gist me Brother: I took a bus from Orile. It was late and bus was scarce. I closed late from work. Me: did u lose ur phone Brother: so at Alakija some boys entered Brother: they told the driver to stop the bus at Finiger bus stop (that bus-stop on Badagry express is one dangerous place that no bus ever stops there once it's 6pm). Brother: but the driver refused so they shot him when he was on speed Brother: so the bus swayed from one side of the road to the other Brother: nearly killing all of us. so they told all of us to bring our phones and money out. the guy with the gun was sitting two people after me. so he collected phones from the guy close to him and came over to the guy close to me. while he was hesitating, he was shot in the stomach. by then I was confused of what to do cos I had already hidden my phone in my shoe and if I bent down to bring it out they might think I am hesitating too. so I just left myself to my fate. and guess what? The guy with the gun left my row and went to the next. I could not thank God enough Me: hmmm Brother: on the next row they broke somebody's head with the butt of the gun. so after that they left us Me: u should thank God Brother: so people were shouting at the driver to move Me: driver that was shot? Brother: when we checked him he just leaned on the steering wheel moaning, so I jumped through the window and ran all the way home with my phone safe and I was not hurt but my shirt was stained with blood. Most thieves will kill for anything. Human life means absolutely nothing to them. We are in that period of the year when killings and robbing increases. So everyone, be careful. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
It was a Monday night and my friend O was at the wheel. We hadn't seen in a short while so I was spending two days with her at Lekki before I left Lagos for Jos. To avoid the mad traffic on Lekki express, we entered Lekki Phase 1 and was soon trying to connect the express. There was a short traffic leading to the express. Suddenly, the Nisan Black Jeep beside us made to enter our front. O didn't let her because the Nissan's lane was moving, faster than ours, and O didn't want the young girl at the wheel of the Nissan to frustrate her own movement. When we moved past the Nissan Jeep, the two girls in the ride looked at us and we at them. Then I noticed her plate numbers 'JESUS LOVE'. I said wow. Almost immediately, we nicknamed her Jesus Love. A few distance to the roundabout, Jesus Love went past us cause her lane was faster and she entered our front and got on the express and back to her lane. We laughed at the way she went past us, like she was proving to us that she could cut us off. Back on the express, we were back in traffic but our lane was still moving, as we approached Jesus Love, she decided to leave her lane and come in front of us, but O was a better driver and O's Land Rover brushed Jesus Love's mirror. A bit free of traffic, Jesus Love sped up to us and started raining abuses on us, just as she cut into our front and stopped. But O already predicted her move and was out from behind Jesus Love and moving. It was so funny because Jesus Love was trying to prove something. She should have entered our front before we came up close to her. But because she saw us that close, she decided late, just to block us, because O didn't let her into our front earlier. So it wasn't O's fault that Jesus Love's Mirror was touched, though not damaged. So I told O what I have heard about supposed missionaries. You have a bumper sticker that reads 'obey traffic laws' and yet you break them. The examples I can give are much. Anyone seeing a JESUS LOVE plate number, would expect a better display of character from our Nissan driver. When Jesus Love drove up to us again, she and her friend still raining insults on us, we returned by hailing her. 'Jesus Love. Are you showing the Love of Jesus?'She was a bit taken aback but not put off, the insults continued and she wasn't watching her fast driving, cause she had worked herself into such agitation that even her friend who started calming her down, didn't succeed. Next thing we heard, Jesus Love rammed into a car in front of her, whose booth flew open on impact, that car hit another, which hit another. In a split second she was out of her Jeep at the same time the driver of the first car she hit got down. Jesus Love was storming towards him and pointing at us who were gone but watching from the mirror that we were to blame. What? I would have loved to see how that ended, but we couldn't cause traffic. It was so very funny and I can't capture it in writing. But what in essence I am saying is, we should mind the image we try to give ourselves outside. With our bumper stickers and personalised plate numbers, let us try and practice exactly what we are preaching.
First of all, I want to say thanks to you all for the wonderful comments you left on my last post, thanking God with me for His mercies and goodness.You all have a very wonderful weekend filled with showers of blessings from God.
Okay, my recent update is here!
I saw death yesterday, but God has better plans for me. He finally made me believe that there is a reason why He has been keeping me alive. It wasn't my first time driving down that road, nor second, nor third. I can't thank God enough. I am still dumbfounded the accident happened, but to God be the glory. I was driving with three passengers and we are all alive. Only the person beside me had minor injuries and he has been discharged. I am alive and I am proclaiming that the Lord is good and faithful. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
