idumota-lagos

Yeh! The pain is too much!’ Segun gnashed his teeth as a nurse dressed his wounds in a private clinic.

‘You would be fine, Segun,’ the nurse pacified.

‘I hope so…oh! Oh!!’ Segun squirmed, pulling the nurse’s arm away, ‘don’t bother dressing the wounds, just bandage the damn thing and let me go!’

‘Judging by your large frame, sir, nobody would believe you’re as fearful as a baby about to take his first injection.’

Segun laughed despite his predicament. And in that relaxed atmosphere, the nurse tactfully applied some ointment on the wounds.

‘Sir, you have so much scars on your body…’ the nurse paused, then continued, ‘sorry if I’m too inquisitive; what do you do for a living?’

‘Stop interrogating me and…’ he paused at the sound of his phone.

‘Hello!’ Segun began via an earpiece, ‘Egbon…Ah! I’m in serious pains… receiving treatment now…the fight was very fierce…I will call you later…bye,’ he ended the call.

‘So, you are a fighter?’ the curious nurse probed.

Segun smiled. Before he uttered another word, his phone rang the second time. The nurse attempted to restrain him, but he prevailed.

‘Sorry, nurse, just this last call…’

‘Omo Aye!’ Segun spoke the moment he identified the caller, ‘hospital things… what? That can’t be possible…nobody can ban Okada …I would fight for my people anytime; any day…we would talk later…bye.’

‘Hmmm, you’re an okada (Motorcycle) rider!’ the nurse remarked.

‘I drove okada for ten good years. Although I’ve stopped driving okada, yet the spirit of an okada rider lives in me. Injustice done to any okada man, is also an injustice to me.’

‘What passion!’ the nurse remarked as she applied the bandage. ‘So, what job do you do now?’

‘I’m an NURTW staff,’ he replied with a tinge of inferiority complex, but quickly added, ‘I’m a university graduate ooo.’

‘That is just by the way. Segun, your present health condition is my concern. Please, desist from unnecessary fights in the future.’

*****

TWO MONTHS LATER…

Segun was in the comfort of his room watching the television. Sipping a glass of wine with one arm, he reached for the remote control with the other. And just as he was about to change the channel, he heard the mention of his name on the TV set:

‘Segun Cardoso is a bastard for insulting my wife… I’m appealing to the chairman of the NURTW Idumota chapter to caution his men…’

‘Good riddance to bad rubbish!’ Segun muttered under his breath as he switched off the TV set.

Few minutes later, his wife emerged from the bedroom.

‘Honey, I am ready,’ Monica, announced as she flaunted herself before her husband.

 ‘Honey, I am ready!’ Segun mimicked his wife, ‘you know practically nothing else.’

‘Honey am I no longer desirable?’ Monica stood with arms akimbo before her husband. The effect of the fluorescent light on her light skin gave her a reddish look like the specie of tomato from Jos.

‘Monica, go back to your room, I have a thousand and one issues on my mind now.’

Adamant and daring at the same time, she went and sat beside her husband. Without uttering a word, Segun lifted a portion of the rug in their sitting room, bringing out a long cane, he turned towards her.

‘This was the koboko (cane) I used on Maryam, Chichi, Tosin…hmmm, if you’re a wise wife, you would understand my parable,’ he ended with a note of gravity.

Monica, burst out into tears. And just then Segun’s phone rang.

Hello, Omo Aye,’ he began on the phone, ‘I’m not too fine jare…you mean the Baale has banned Okada in Idumota? The battle line is drawn…Operation fire for fire ni o… just wait for me…I’m coming…’ he ended the call.

‘Are you going to leave me here alone tonight?’ Monica stood in the way of her husband as he prepares to leave.

‘Woman get out of my way if you don’t want to spend your night at Igbobi hospital.’

Monica whizzed out of the way in fear. And the moment he was gone, she heaved a sigh of frustration. Barely six months of marriage, only two words best describes the man she called her husband: A MONSTER!

It has been from one trouble to the other since they both tied the nuptial knot. Shortly after their honeymoon, her husband had a case with the head of the vigilante group at Isale-gangan. As though that was not enough, a month later, it was with the Commissioner, but for the timely intervention of the chairman of the NURTW Idumota chapter, she would have become a young widow.

Now, there is a brewing case with the Baale; would he survive it?

*******

Early the next day, Segun accompanied some angry motorcycle riders to the palace of the Baale to protest the rumoured ban of commercial motorcycle activities within Idumota.

The palace guards, who obviously had gotten a wind of the coming of the angry mob, fortified the whole place. Undaunted by the barrier, the demonstrators took to the streets in a wild protest.

In the most ridiculing gesture ever imagined, Segun tied the effigy of the Baale to a motorbike and drove the puppet around the neighbouring in a fake homage.

While the mock performance drew the attention of numerous onlookers, some unruly boys seized the opportunity to assault commuters and shop owners alike.

Suddenly, a loud siren blared into the vicinity, ushering in the members of the Police force from Ebute-ero unit. As they unleashed tons of tear-gas and sporadic gun-shots, people scampered for safety. Amidst the casualties and the several arrests that were made, the main target, Segun, scaled over a high fence and sped off on a waiting motorbike.

*******

A WEEK LATER

‘Baby mi show colour re…ki a jo ma rocki…’ Segun and his female friends danced to the sound of a live band at the Chop & Quench Club. It was the birthday party of one of his allies from the NURTW.

‘Mike Tyson of Idumota!’ his friends hailed him as he danced, the man with nine lives!’

He waved in response and increased his dance steps to match the increased tempo of the beat.  Then in the heat of moment, one of the ladies that danced with Segun, excused herself.

Few minutes later, she returned to the dancing floor.

‘Now it’s my turn to dance with the king,’ the girl pulled Segun away from the other girls. Then in the guise of dancing with him, she subtly slipped something into his pocket.

‘You can’t eat this big fish alone,’ the other girls drew Segun away from her.

Suddenly, some men from the Nigerian Police force stormed into the building.

‘Freeze…don’t move!’ the head of the team ordered, ‘we have a search warrant to search everyone here. All I need is your cooperation.’

Then in what can be surmised as an orchestrated act, the search began and ended with Segun when a wrap of cocaine was found in his possession!

Without wasting time, a Policeman handcuffed him. Afraid of the ripple effects of the whole scenario, the rest of the partying crew slowly began to disperse.

‘It seems the Police have arrested someone over there,’ one passerby remarked, as the Police men led Segun into their van.

‘Ah! That’s ‘Mike Tyson’ of Idumota ooo!’ a phone repairer identified the culprit.

‘Do you know him?’ the passerby asked.

‘There is hardly anyone in Idumota that doesn’t know ‘Mike Tyson’ of Idumota.’ the phone repairer replied, ‘that guy can fight for Africa! He had had numerous nasty experiences with several people, but the Chairman of the NURTW usually mediate on his behalf. On that fateful day he stepped on the Baale’s toes, I knew he was going to meet his waterloo soonest.’

‘People should always choose their battles wisely,’ the passerby concluded.’

Final Remarks: Fictional story! interestingly, most real-life issues take the semblance of fictional stories. The story above is reminiscent to the saga of Dino Melaye, the Senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly.

In addition to the seemingly unending scuffles between Senator Melaye and numerous personalities in Nigeria, he is now faced with fresh charges of unlawful possession of prohibited firearms.

Will he go unscathed this time around again? Follow the updates about Sen. Dino Melaye on Concise News to find out.

Check this out: https://concisenews.global/2019/02/05/50-prayerful-birthday-messages-for-your-sister/