MY ABDUCTORS

 In the Hands of Ritualists:  Mrs Laraba drove for hours through the heavy Lagos traffic, till we got to a village in Topo, Bad­agry. She told me she wanted to see a business associate there who owed her some money, since there was enough time to get into the Republic of Benin. I said I was okay with her plans. She gave me some snacks to eat and a bottle of coke. I took them and slept off.

When I woke up, I found myself in a bush, bound hand and feet in a shrine where incanta­tions in a language I did not understand were be­ing chanted by a man of about sixty years of age. Around his waist was a red wrapper. Looking around I saw two other men starring at me, and some very frightening african carvings placed in the shrine. I was now beginning to regain con­sciousness. I had been drugged with the coke she gave me to drink and brought to this place.

The period I lived under Lagos bridge for two years, I had heard about ritual killings in shrines. Seeing all these scary carvings, it dawned on me that I had been abducted by Mrs Laraba. She had lured me out of the house for this reason. “Oh my God, please help me. deliver me from these wicked people.” I remained lying on the floor, not yet fully conscious. The effect of whatever Mrs Laraba gave me to drink was not yet over. Fortunately, I was conscious enough to hear them talking and I followed their conversa­tions silently.

 Mrs Laraba whispered to the baba in the shrine. She told him that I was still unconscious and wondered what would happen if I did not gain consciousness before the ritual due to take place at midnight. It was now about nine p.m. I did not know I had slept for that long. It was through their discussion I learnt that I had been unconscious from the moment I drank the bottle of coca-cola. They thought I was dead but for the slow beating of my heart. Baba told her to be patient, that if I failed to wake up that they could carry me and my belongings and throw me on the road side. That it I would be of no use for the sacrifice.

They were not aware that I heard their conver­sation. While Aunty Laraba was worried about my being unconscious I persisted in prayer. I closed my eyes and prayed earnestly to God and asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to help me. I pleaded with my departed mother to protect me. I invoked the protection of my guardian angel. I could not stop praying.

The hut was dark and the noise from the forest was so intense. I did not know where I was, all I knew was that there were about three men there, including Aunty Laraba. At about 11.45p.m. Baba came to where I lay with ropes tied on both hands and feet, he looked at me and he murmured to himself, “This child is not destined to be used for rituals. She is not alone, there are guiding spirits around her.” Why would Mrs Labara go for a poor crea­ture?

She did not know the implications of what  she was doing? Her actions would anger the gods for there were creatures not meant for sacrifices of this nature. I would ask her to take her back to where she could abandon her even if she was unconscious. This sign alone of her not regain­ing consciousness showed that a creature like her was not for the gods. Her guiding spirits were with her.’’

He went back to Mrs Laraba and asked her how and where she got me from. She told him I was an orphan and an adopted child of her best friend Agatha. She could not understand why her friend would shower so much love on a hope­less orphan that she picked from under the Lagos bridge. The most annoying thing to her was Aga­tha’s decision to will her entire property to this child whose blood line she didn’t even know.

She told the Baba how she had deceived me into making this trip with her. Mrs Laraba ad­mitted that she had nurtured this plan for some time now and was only looking for the right time which came when her friend Agatha made the business trip to Cotonou. Mrs Laraba, in the course of her waiting for an opportunity, gained Nkem’s trust so it was not difficult to persuade her to travel with her to meet her new mother. She wondered why her friend would care so much for a complete stranger, when she had chil­dren that had a future ahead of them.

I was shocked at what I had just heard. I tried not to make any sound, for I felt like weeping.