It was my friend Micheal 's birthday party so he invited me to the club. The first time ever I went to the club. Chocolate Lounge around Choba Uniport.
Past 2am we decided to go back to his hostel but there were no vehicles so we joined a legion of others walking on foot. It was quite a distance but we walked.
Less than half way through we met four police vans parked in a row by the left side of the dark road. There were policemen with their very bright flashlights pointing at passersby as though they were looking for a particular person or group of persons.
My instincts told me we'd be stopped but I didn't think we would cos no one ahead of us was stopped and there were others walking behind.
As we got closer my heart rate increased. Not because I was guilty of anything but there's a kind of panic that comes when you know you're not safe.
I and my friend was stopped by the second or third van. I didn't know when I muttered "I talk am" under my breath.
They asked us to sit on the ground after asking us were we were coming from. I immediately sat without uttering a word. And when my friend tried to ask why, he was slapped and his feet brushed off the coal tar.
"Una papa send una go school una leave book una go read dey go club. Bloody cultists" one of the officers said as he cuffed my left hand to my friend's right hand. Mind you, we were both above 21 years old.
All these while there were other people passing us and the police without being stopped and I asked myself why.
I was modestly dressed. A long sleeve denim shirt on chinos pants and a blue and white all star canvas was what I had on.
Anyway, they made us lie down at the back of the van and moments later they drove off.
I was scared to my pants that night as they drove around with us at the back in the cold and dark night.
"Oboi you get any tattoo for body?" My friend asked me.
"No"
"What of scar, or anything wey fit implicate us?"
"Bro I pure, nothing nothing"
Just then the van stopped at where looked like a path and not the road. It was dark. Till date I can't tell where it was.
Two policemen came down and began searching us. They took my wallet, phone and in fact everything in my pocket.
Before then I'd already said what I thought would be my last prayer while lying in the van just incase I die cos I was so scared man. They could shoot us and label us criminals or cultists. This is Nigeria, nothing would have happened. Younno?
When they couldn't find anything implicating they kept saying nasty lies about us but we didn't utter any word unless they asked a direct question.
Long story short, they continued another round of driving with us still cuffed at the back of the van till past 4am when they took us to their station.
At the station one of the officer brought a machete and gave us pieces of what tasted like advices while pointing the machete at our faces.
After that they uncuffed us and asked us to run without looking back.
We didn't even know where we were so we spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out our location.
These were men who took oaths to protect and to serve.