Bandit Baby - S01 E01

2 years ago

Bandit Baby - S01 E01

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 1

I had a bitter experience on a trip I had to Lagos.

Lagos is the only state in Nigeria I do not really like.

I had a mail from the head office of the company I applied for a job.

I was asked to come for biometric capturing, then choose any of the company’s branches I would like to work within the country.

I booked my ticket and time for departure arrived.

In the eighteen seater bus, I sat by the window.

Beside me was a very beautiful young lady in her late twenties.

She was heavily pregnant.

I glanced through her fingers and saw a wedding ring, indicating that she was married.

“But why are you embarking on this long journey on land?” I asked.

“I’m joining my husband in Lagos. He just came back from a foreign trip three days ago. He came back so we can have our baby in Lagos,” she said.

“Wow! That will be nice. Is this your first time?” I asked pointing at her tummy.

“Yes. This is our first and I’m carrying twins.”

“Wow! That’s beautiful. I love twins. Congrats in advance.”

She was very free with me. We talked about so many things while the journey lasted.

She bought banana, groundnut, cucumber, watermelon, gala, plantain chips, coke, water etc.

She shared them with me.

“You’ve bought so much. Why are you eating like this?” I asked.

“My brother, na so I dey chop ooo. I get hungry every now and then. I even carry rice in this flask. I will eat when we reach Benin. These people just dey disgrace me like that. No mind them please.”

We both laughed.

At a point along the journey, she slept and rested her head on my shoulder.

I pitied her and allowed her to rest for a while.

At intervals, she will wake up, eat some snacks and returned to sleep.

We were cruising on the Benin-Ore Expressway when she began to feel some cramps on her lower abdomen.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine. It has been like this these few days. I’ll be fine.”

“Is that labor?” I asked.

“No, it’s not. I am not due yet,” she responded.

It was around 6:00pm.

As we got to a checkpoint, we were ordered to come down by men in military uniform.

“This is strange,” said one of the passengers.

As we got down, one of the men opened fire.

It was then we knew they were not real soldiers.

They were Bandits.

We began to run into the bush.

Some of us were shot.

Some died and some were wounded.

I ran with all the strength in me.

I sustained various degrees of injuries.

I had no idea where I was running to.

I kept running deep into the woods.

After running to safety, I decided to take a rest.

After checking round and having satisfied that there was nobody around, I decided to hide behind one of the huge stones I met there inside the forest.

It was getting dark.

Having rested for a while, it was time to move.

‘I must find my way back to the road,’ I told myself.

As I got up to leave, I heard a voice, a human voice few yards away from me.

I began to crawl away, but the voice started calling for help.

It was a lady’s voice.

“Please help me. Somebody help me. Somebody heeeeeeeeeeeelp,” she kept shouting like a mad dog.

I decided to take a look at who she was, and find out what was wrong with her.

‘Maybe she was shot’, I mumbled.

I ran towards the direction with the intention to prevent her from shouting further.

When I got to her hide-out, she was panting.

As she saw me she began to cry profusely.