I WILL BE DEAD IN THE NEXT FIFTEEN MINUTES 😭😭 || By @chidinmajohn

My name is chidinma john, popularly known as chi-baby by my friends. I come from a humble but hardworking family of 5. My father is a cobbler and my mother is a trader.

I used to be a 300 level student of Biology in the National University of UAR. My story however, will be not be complete without mentioning my friend, Tayo.

Like myself, Tayo was a student of UAR too although he was in the Archaeology department. We met in 100 level and became friends, then we became roommates in 200 level.

Things were not always easy, but Tayo and I got by by doing odd jobs. Combining the jobs we did with our studies was not easy, but we persevered, knowing what we left in and we left our respective homes.

One day, in the second semester of 300 level, we ran into trouble.

We were stopped by three policemen on our way back from the construction site we always worked at on weekends.

Without any slight altercation or provocation, we were thrown into the back of their police van and taken to their station. We were stripped of our clothes and all our properties; our phones and the little money we had on us.

At first, I thought it was a misunderstanding that would be sorted out soon, it was like a bad dream. As time progressed though, I knew I was in deep trouble.

Many Hours, weeks and days passed... I was not been given the privilege to even make one single phone call.

Nobody knew where I was. I knew my family would be worried sick. Since the night of the arrest, I had also not set eyes on Tayo.

I was beginning to sense that something was terribly amiss. The feeling of dread was constantly building.

After a full month, two guards approached my cell and asked me to come with them. I was led to an already running vehicle, where my head was covered with a black cloth.

We drove for God knows how long and I was whisked down from the vehicle and led to another cell.

I was dazed and confused, with no idea of where I was or what was going on.

A catholic priest approached my cell, about fifteen minutes later. He asked me to confess my sins for the last time.

Last time? What was going on?

Reluctantly, I made a confession to the priest. It was awkward and I kept making mistakes. After the priest left, I sat down in the cell, trying to make sense of what was happening.

A prison guard, brought me a plate of poorly cooked beans and rice. He looked at me sympathetically, a look of pity on his face.

I laid down on the cold ground of the cell, despair slowing seeping in. I was distraught. I had not seen my family in month now. Tears began to drop freely.

The head warden approached me. There were a couple of wardens with him. He looked at me, an unflinching stare on his face.

"In fifteen minutes, you'll be hanged for the murder of Felicia Gregory, whom you brutally murdered after raping her. Enjoy your last moments."

Rape? Murder? Hanging? What in God's name was even going on?

That was when it dawned on me that I was an scapegoat. Felicia Gregory had probably been murdered by a rich and influential person and I was being framed.

Me.... A commoner, with no power, no influence and connections. Nobody would notice I was gone, except maybe my family. The perfect scapegoat.

That was when it dawned on me that Tayo probably shared the same fate as me.

We, like countless others before us, would be removed off the face of the earth, sacrificed for the sins of another and no one would probably even notice.

Well, the end has come.