At that instant the events of the day began to replay in my subconscious as I trembled before the kidnapper in that dark forest
"I wouldn't be there if only I had listened"
I thought to myself, I had woken up that fateful morning feeling all uneasy but with no premonition of what the day had in stock for me,I took a nap in the afternoon in a bid to prepare for a journey I had to embark on much later. As a final year student of the great Uniben I needed to sign some documents to facilitate the payment of my state bursary in other to benefit from the scheme when money was being paid to all Delta state indigenes by the state government; little did I know that embarking on that journey from Benin Edo state to a neighbouring Delta state for a paltry sum of 19,500 was about to cost me my life.
Shortly before I embarked on the journey I placed a call to my folks at home to hint them on my proposed trip,I remember the tone of my father's voice when he asked me repeatedly
"Diana, must you travel today, is there no way you can go about it without having to travelling? I am not just comfortable with this your trip"
"based on who I be"
as a typical uniben chick is bound to say,I gave him a thousand and one reasons why I had to go, convincing him and trying to discard any fear he nursed regarding my trip but deep inside me I knew all of my persistence boiled down to the fact that I didn't want to miss out on my own share of the national cake when it would eventually be paid, so armed with my bursary form I bid my friends and room mates good bye and hit the road .
Few minutes after I left school, I discovered I left my phone behind and had to go back for it; I remembered my room mates teasing me on it and suggesting that forgetting to go with my phone,was a major sign for me to stay back and spend the night with them; but just like the proverbial stubborn fly billed for destruction I disregarded the warning with a wave of the hand smiling at them again I stubbornly hurried away.
The journey to delta state was smooth;I enjoyed the view and landscape as I stared out of the window marvelled at the beauty of my country Naija the land was really green I thought to myself; at exactly 5:43 minutes after I saw a sign board with a bold inscription, "Welcome to Delta State" we arrived Asaba the capital city; my first port of call was the home of my uncle who lived there with his family, because I intended going very early the next morning to carry out the functions which brought me to the state.
Following the description which he gave to me, I strolled down to the bike park which had loads of bikes and settled for one after battling with an array of other bike men trying to lure me, I settled on the bike after he billed me,while on the journey I can remember how we chatted on and on about anything which caught the bike man's fancy he kept dishing out tales after tales calling me "aunty" at every slight opportunity;I noticed while we rode he kept stealing glances at me through his side mirror I didn't see it as weird; everyone likes to steal occasional glances at a fine babe, let him keep thrilling himself, while the ride lasted I reasoned feeling pretty, that was one of my major undoing as I later found out that he used the mirror to monitor my countenance and know if i suspected any foul play, dear me however just kept cool, wearing my ever present smile, 15mins into the journey I was amazed at how a journey which took about 5mins riding in my uncle's car way back, was suddenly taking a longer time,I confirmed from him if he heard me well and if he still remembered the description I gave,he discarded my fears telling me he had to take a longer route as all the major roads were under construction,I had no qualms doubting him as tractors adorned most of the streets we passed by;after another few minutes of bike ride we started approaching a lonely part;even though I was a stranger in asaba I knew that route we took didn't in any way look like the road we plied the 1st and only time I visited Asaba two years back;he assured me that after the part we were riding in, we would ride out and link to the main road.
At that point I become some what jittery,as we rode further into a more deserted region he greeted a mad man who passed by us and that singular action raised my suspicion
"bros I hail oh"
the bike man greeted, who ever hails a mad man I thought to myself at that point in time I decided to put an end to the journey; pay him off and probably call my uncle to come pick me up from wherever we were.
I asked him for the second time
"Bros are you sure you still remember where we are going to"
The next thing I heard him say in a very stern voice, a lot different from the voice he used to gist with me initially when we started the journey,
he barked out just like a mad bull dog
"would you sharrap your mouth there"
at that point in time I refused to accept what my mind told me, using the survival instinct with my frail body I struggled hard on the bike but he rode on a very high speed going deeper and deeper into the forest, after riding into the deepest part of a strange forest he stopped the bike came down and flung a deafening slap across my face; that was the last straw I didn't need a prophet to tell me what was overly obvious,I had been kidnapped.
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