HIGH CRIMES

This piece is actual actually my first attempt at writing crime drama, so you the reader will notice how crude it feels compared to C.S.I: 9JA. 🙂
I wrote this piece some 3 years ago when the kidnapping “business” had just bean to bloom in the country. I’m glad things have reduced a little bit now, but we all have to pitch in to change this country for the better, one corp member at a time. 😀
Enjoy the piece and feel free to drop your comments after the read. Thank you for your support, and don’t worry, C.S.I. 9JA will be back real soon. ~ Chrome.

 

The Kidnapping

Rachel ran towards her uncle who was waiting for her at the visitors’ lounge that was situated near the front gate of her school. She was seven years old and the only daughter to a lawyer father (who doubled as a politician) and a businesswoman mother. Being the only child meant she received the highest attention a child could have from her parents. She attended the best school in the area and all the basic amenities she needed to grow up healthy where never lacking around her. It is also for this reason that only her uncle (younger brother to her mother) was allowed to pick her up from school (as her mother dropped her off personally on her way to work). He was always on time to pick her up and he never made any unnecessary stops on their way home. She admired Uncle Buzor so much. He was always nice to her and showed her around the area to the point she had memorized the route with which they took home. It was for this reason that when he took a different route, she began to feel uneasy. She enquired of him why they weren’t taking the normal route which she was used to and, in response, he smiled at her and told her that he had discovered a new route which was faster than their normal route home. She smiled back at him and relaxed in her seat. She told herself she had nothing to be afraid off; Uncle Buzor was there to protect her. She trusted Uncle Buzor with her life.

Buzor straightened up on the driver’s seat and kept his eyes on the road. He knew that the reassuring smile he gave his little niece was a weak one, but he hoped it would be enough to convince her that there was no foul play in progress. He thought back on how the plan was meant to be executed and hoped his cohorts would be there to play out their own parts well. Buzor was the last born of his family and fabled black sheep. He never wanted to get an education and always felt he was being held back in getting the life he so much wanted by going to school. This ultimately led to his dropping out of the university after just three semesters. He wanted things easy and sought out get-rich-quick schemes that never seemed to pan out. About a year ago, he left his parents’ Umuahia residence and moved in with his elder sister and her husband in their cozy abode in Lagos, and felt this was his opportunity to live out the good life absolutely scot-free. Things turned sour for him when recently, his in-law, together with his own sister, began hammering on the need for him to get up and get a job…and get a life of his own. He felt they were hateful, ungrateful people who didn’t want him to enjoy the fruits of their labor with them. He didn’t have that many friends since he came to Lagos, but he did have friends nonetheless, albeit not the kind of friends he could bring home for a social call. And so, he hatched a plan with his ‘friends’, one which he guaranteed them was going to make them instant millionaires.

He looked at little Rachel again and smiled, but this time it was a smile of mischief. She was the center of the plan and the biggest payday he and his friends were going to encounter. He looked back at the road and the smile turned into a nasty grin. They were almost at the extraction point. Things were going according to his brilliant plan.

The car came to an abrupt halt when a gang of heavily armed men jumped out of a nearby parked car and blocked the way. They shot into the air and bystanders fled. Rachel screamed and motioned to Uncle Buzor with her open arms, because she felt she would be safe in his arms. She knew Uncle Buzor would protect her no matter what. This was what he always told her whenever they were on their way back home. She reached for him, but he wouldn’t reach for her. She looked up at his face but she could barely recognize it. He was no longer the sweet uncle with lots of smiles that she knew; he was smiling, but there was something evil about the way he smiled now.

 

The Ransom

The time was 5:30pm when Barrister Chibueze pulled into the parking lot of his home. It was a cozy duplex situated in the government reserved areas of Ijake in Lagos State. He was a well-to-do lawyer with interests in business and politics, and had worked really hard over the years to acquire a small fortune which he was ready to spend on the comfort of his family. A family which consisted of his wife of ten years and seven-year-old daughter, whose coming had been nothing short of a miracle. He had been diagnosed with sterility, even though the doctors hadn’t ruled out the possibility of him bearing a child; they had predicted it would be a 1 in 1,000,000 of a chance. Rachel was that 1 in a million and he was hell-bent on spending millions to ensure she lived a comfortable life.

This was to be the case when he entered into the living room of his home and saw his wife crying and his brother-in-law kneeling on the floor. He noticed that Buzor’s face was bruised and his shirt was bloodied. There was a note on the table in front of his wife. Barrister Chibueze needed nobody to direct him towards the note, and on reading it, he slumped on one of the sofas and stared into space with a dejected gaze.

Buzor permitted himself a small, malicious smile, while he forced the tears that rolled down his cheeks. It was all going according to plan. The injuries he obtained from the beatings he received in the hands of his friends to make the kidnap seem realistic had done a good job of convincing his sister, and now, his brother-in-law. When he returned that evening to meet his sister in the living room, he was limping. He knelt on the ground and gave his best performance in acting remorseful. He then handed the ransom note to her after explaining what had happened. He knew that his brother-in-law would do anything to get his daughter back safely. In fact, he felt the twenty five million naira he and his gang were asking for was pocket change compared to what his sister’s husband could cough up. He was going to get five million naira while his cohorts each got two million. They had given the family thirty-six hours to respond or find their daughter dead in the nearest dumpsite. They were sure to pay, and he and his friends were sure to get paid!

 

The Rescue

Edidiong wasn’t the happiest of persons on the planet at the moment. The feeling didn’t stem from the fact that he came from a low-class family nor was it because he was the first son of his home, which automatically meant that the burden of bringing the family out of the ashes of poverty rested on him. He was not happy at this very moment because of the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ scenario he had just found himself in. Edidiong’s childhood had been spent in his village which was found in a remote region of Akwa-Ibom state. The only time he left the region was when he got admission into a university situated in Owerri, Imo state. Now a graduate undergoing his one-year compulsory youth service, he was posted to Ogun State, much to his disappointment. He felt that, as a graduate of Petroleum Engineering, he would be posted to oil rich regions of the country like Rivers or Bayelsa States. To make matters worse for him, after the 3-week paramilitary training, he was posted to a remote village to become a teacher in the community primary school as his primary assignment. It took him two full days to find the village and, even after three months, he still wasn’t accustomed to the terrain. On the fateful day, he decided to explore his surrounding but before long he had lost his way back to his lodge. Things would have been a lot easier for him if the region wasn’t so bushy. Thick vegetation confused his bearings and he decided to look for the nearest footpaths. Growing up in the village had taught him a lot of things, one of which was that as long as there was a footpath, it was bound to lead to where people were. He checked his wristwatch and saw the time was 6:30pm. The sky was still bright and he thanked his stars for that. He moved through the thicket until he came across an uncompleted building which must have been abandoned, judging by its dilapidated state, for quite a few years. He was about to turn around and find a new path when he noticed movements in the building. He immediately ducked behind some bushes when a red jeep, closely followed by a very unattractive car, pulled into front side of the building. He watched as six men, carrying guns, stepped out of the cars with a little girl in their company. This was the reason why Edidiong was not a happy person. He knew exactly what was happening. It was a kidnapping and he was a prime witness to the crime. The men outside were joined by their counterparts who were inside the building and Edidiong counted them to a total of ten mean-looking men. He brought out his cell phone but discovered that there was no network coverage. He cursed under his breath. Just then, eight of the men entered into the cars and drove away through the bush tracks towards where Edidiong realized would be the main road. He watched as the remaining two hoodlums led the little girl into the uncompleted building, and he came out from his hiding place. He knew what he was about to do was stupid and suicidal, but his instincts as a firstborn had already kicked in long before reason took control. He stealthily ran up to the rear of the building and peeped in from one of the windows. He noticed that only one of the hoodlums guarded the girl. A quick look around and he saw the second making his way through the bushes at the other end of the plot, which meant he was going to either take a leak or a dump. Edidiong wasted no time. He found a large stick and after jumping through the window, rushed towards the sentry and knocked him out with it.

Rachel screamed as a man wearing dark green trousers and a cap of the same color jumped through one of the windows and hit the man who was told to watch her with a huge stick. The new arrival helped her untie the ropes that were used to tie her hands and her feet. She knew he was a good man. He wore the same clothes some of the uncles and aunties in her school wore on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she knew she could trust him. Unlike Uncle Buzor who allowed the bad men to carry her away in her daddy’s car. She knew that Uncle Buzor knew the bad men and when she saw them beating him, he was laughing with them. This man in uniform told her to trust him and he was going to take her back home. She believed him and held on to him when he carried her in his arms. His arms felt safe. Not like Uncle Buzor who did not try to save her with his arms; this man was a good man.

Edidiong ran with all his might as he carried Rachel out of the building. At that same time, the second sentry was making his way back to the hideout when Edidiong made a break for the bushes in the same direction the cars went. The hoodlum ran after him. He had a locally-made pump-action shotgun with him and he fired off two shots which sprayed pellets all over the bushes. Edidiong ran as fast as he could, he was beginning to lose his pursuer. The pain in his left shoulder and right butt-cheek didn’t slow him down. Apparently two of the pellets had hit him in those regions but Edidiong was a stoutly built young man. The pellets barely dug into his flesh, thanks to years of farming and pounding yams. But Edidiong was losing blood, which ultimately meant he was gradually losing consciousness. All he thought about was getting the little girl to safety even if it cost him his life. When he eventually saw the expressway, his body was already growing numb. He saw a convoy of cars coming down the expressway and using his last ounce of strength he waved at them…just before he passed out.

 

The Conclusion

Six hours after the abduction of Rachel, Buzor was behind bars with six of his cohorts. Apparently the convoy that Edidiong had flagged down belonged to that of the governor of Ogun State who was returning from an official duty. His security team immediately swooped in and apprehended the hoodlum that was chasing the youth corps member. Interrogations lead to the discovery of the diabolical plan to hold Rachel for ransom. The remaining gang members were accosted en route to the hideout and a shootout ensued. Three members of the gang were killed while one escaped and was still at large. A nationwide manhunt had been placed on him.

Rachel was back in the loving arms of her parents, and Barrister Chibueze was once again a very happy man. While he contemplated rallying around to get the ransom money, he got a call from one of the governor’s security personnel. As it turned out, Rachel was fond of numbers and had memorized her daddy’s phone number just for fun. It proved to be a very helpful hobby as it became easy to locate her parents with the phone number.

Edidiong was recovering in the state university teaching hospital. Because of his bravery, the state governor had announced an increase in the monthly allowance of corps members serving in the state. He also gave Edidiong a scholarship to any university of his choice to pursue his Masters degree. Barrister Chibueze, in a show of appreciation, used his connections to get Edidiong a job in one of the country’s prestigious multinational oil companies. He also decided to sponsor one of Edidiong’s siblings up to the university level.

The End.