La Requiem

It was abnormal to see the streets of Ikeja, Lagos, free of cars and idle on a weekday. I had thought that I was in the wrong place, and I was hesitant to gas the Avalon. An hour’s journey had turned into a fifteen-minute drive but I took it as the heavens, giving me a chance. It was a windy morning, and the weather was reaching meat-locker standard. It also wasn’t a good day to get on Commander Young’s bad side. Driving through a highway, my eyes wandered about. I embarked on this route to work every day, but today, I was feeling nostalgic. It didn’t happen all the time. I had buried the truth about where I came from at the back of my mind. But at every point and part of the landscapes I crossed, there was a story waiting to be told. I knew the drill. I was born and bred on these streets; It was my home as a proud Lagosian. Yellow Danfo buses struggled for passengers at the curb. A ride in one of those could be the craziest thing a person experienced in their entire

I had caught the attention of a few eyes with the show I had just displayed. The almost audible gasp of the now drenched woman had not gone unheard but thankfully the large spaces drowned out the sound –– such that, people from afar could not hear or realize what had just happened."I'm so sorry," I apologised immediately, just as she struggled to find something to clean off the drink spill on her clothes before it became permanent. My voice came out in a whisper so as not to drag back the eyes to us again but she wasn't even listening, she looked more concerned about the damp patch on the upper part of her clothes.It was the only distraction I could think of, it wasn't all that smart but at least it worked."What the hell is wrong with you!" She bawled in a harsh whisper before making an attempt to push past me. It was successful, but only because I had decided to move my body the exact same time she rudely

It had been ten days since the tragic event that remained packed up in our hearts and minds, refusing to let go, happened. Almost the whole of my lifetime was built upon this career path and truly, it was never even my decision from the start. I loved my job but if anyone had asked me on that fateful day ten years ago, where I saw myself in the future, the most honest answer I could have given was a thin line between dead and hopeless.He had vouchsafed me a choice when I had had none and he had stuck by me throughout, fulfilling every promise he had made to me when I was twenty-two. The countdown had started because no one was safe anymore...all our lives were in danger. There was a very slim chance that it hadn't been the Jama'atu who had manned the attack at the barracks but currently, we were running low on possible suspects.

"How are you doing?" She asked once we reached outside the church building.

This time around a secret message was mailed to our inboxes requesting our presence and that was where I was now.Coker was a small town in Surulere, Lagos and I had to drive all the way from Ikeja to see why I had been called. I was more cautious and conscious of my surroundings as I would never allow what happened that day to repeat itself.When I arrived at the house in Enitan street which the mail had addressed, I was met with a group of some Generals and other Soldier's. This meet was more secretive than the other and I wondered why they hadn't summoned the rest of us but only a few. We were inaccurately, a number of 20 men present at this location, there might have been more but that was what I was able to achieve after my head count.We had sat down in a large spaced living room that had an oval centre mat with the face of a lion boldly indented on it, before a man began to speak. He had a protruding stomach that looked as though it had swallowed a whale but then I realized he w