For Blood And Country

March 11, 2014 - EVANS

I haven't made any progress since I got to Oceanview Hotel. I sat in my room and went through the security feeds for any sign of Al-Hassan, and even went down to the lobby every day for two weeks to see if I would spot him but it was a fool's errand and it dawned on me there was no way Al-Hassan was still in Nigeria. I was tired of staring at the computer all day so I decided to visit Starling Shipping Company.

The company's head office was located in Apapa and it took me about two hours to get there. If Al-Hassan was out of the country, the driver of the car that picked him up should be able to give me clues as to where he took him and who he saw, but I had to find the driver first.

Safari Pizza was a few blocks away so I decided to grab a bite while I check up on the company.

SSC was owned by a Mustafa Kaya, a former Turkish naval captain turned businessman who founded the company after his retirement from the navy about a year after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in nineteen-seventy-four. A Nigerian businessman, Tariq Babangida, was appointed President of SSC, Nigeria in '06. The company seemed to be thriving in Nigeria and other parts of Africa while its major route of operation is Europe to North America with their main port in Mersin. It seemed like the heads of the company had however tried to stay out of the public's eye and off the media's radar.

Even Tariq Babangida, other than few pictures of him in meetings around Africa and sometimes in Europe, the man did not exist to the media. I made a mental note to ask Jerry to find out all there is about him, then I checked the Chief Financial Officer, Felix Anthony, who happened to be a manager of Entity Bank, a Pan-African bank. I thought it was odd that a bank manager was the CFO of a shipping company. And just like the others, there was nothing much about him on the internet.

I was done with my meatball pizza by then and I decided to postpone checking the other heads of the company till I got back to the hotel.

As I stepped outside the pizza joint, a silver car whose driver was conversing with someone caught my attention. The silver car was just like the one that picked up Al-Hassan at the airport but it could just be a coincidence, I thought. I compared the licence number with that of the one I was looking for, just to be sure, but it was different.

As I walked towards the company the car passed me and entered into SSC. It then occurred to me the driver of this car might know who I was looking for.

The guard at the gate asked who I was there to see. "Mr Felix." I replied. Surprisingly, I was told to go in and ask at the reception.

From the gate, I could see security cameras as I walked towards the main building but I couldn't see the silver car anywhere in sight which meant it must be parked somewhere behind the main building. I walked into the main building and then touched my pockets as if I had forgotten something. I walked back out and with the gate in view, I saw I wasn't being watched. I darted around the building avoiding the cameras as best as I could.

There was a mini park behind the building and there were four silver Honda Accord cars parked there and the driver of the one that just drove in was just about to get out of the car so I walked over to him. I greeted him and showed him the licence number, asking if the driver was around. He barely looked at it before telling me to check the parked cars. If the car was there, then the driver would be in the drivers' room which was just around the corner of the other side of the building and I should ask for Deji, that he was the youngest driver in there so I couldn't miss him. The time was 5:45 by then and it would be closing time soon. Any further waste of time, and I might miss Deji. I thanked the man and headed in the direction of the drivers' room.

I spotted Deji easily as I stepped into the drivers' room as he was indeed the youngest person in the room. His face was buried in his phone as he typed rapidly with his earphones on. The TV on the wall was on with the volume on medium and a music video was showing. The two other men in the room were napping. Deji didn't notice me until I was just a few feet away from him. He removed his earphones then and looked up at me.

"You're Deji, right?" I asked.

"Yes" he replied.

"Your attention is needed at the gate. Your boss wants to see you."

"My boss?" He looked confused.

"Your boss… or someone; it has to do with the car you dive." I said irritably.

"Ehn ehn." He said getting up. I led the way and he followed hesitantly while his older colleagues who had been awakened by our conversation just stared after us.

When we walked out of the gates without the guards saying anything, I turned to Deji. "I need you to listen to me, Deji. I need your help."

"What?" He said, confused.

"I'm trying to find someone, a man you picked at the airport few weeks ago."

"I pick a lot of people up at the airport."

"A middle-eastern man to be precise." I saw acknowledgement in his eyes. "He was staying at the Oceanview where we met a couple of times but all of a sudden, I couldn’t find him there; they said he checked out already. Can you tell me where to find him?"

"Why, and how do you know me?" he asked warily.

"He's a friend and I saw you drop him off on his first day at the airport. He told me you work here." I said.

Deji looked at me intently, "who are you?" He asked

"I'm a friend like I told you. What's wrong?"

"No one knew –" His phone rang then and he picked up while he fixed his eyes on me. He listened and said, "yes sir," before he hung up. "That's my boss." He said and turned to leave.

I knew he had the information I needed but he seemed smarter than just any driver but since his boss was leaving, I might find out who it was. As I began walking away someone called out to me. "Hey!" I turned around and saw a guard coming towards me.

"Excuse me." He said with a stern look.

"Yes?"

"We need to have a word with you." He said.

"Who are 'we' and what about?" I asked.

"Just come with me." He insisted standing akimbo. I looked towards the gate and saw two other guards staring at me, ready to chase if it came to that. To avoid any drama, I agreed to go with him. He led me to a small guards' room and told me to sit, then he left. After about five minutes an older guard came in. "Good evening sir. I am Raji." He said, closing the door behind him.

Great, now I have missed the boss, I thought. "Mr Raji, why am I here?" I said

"One of our drivers reported that you harassed him."

"Harassed?"

Mr Raji nodded. "And the other guards at the gate said you asked to see Mr Felix but you didn't even reach the receptionist before coming back out and then you disappeared on all our security cameras. Until you were seen walking out with the driver."

"Well, maybe the cameras aren't functioning well." I shrugged.

Me Raji smiled, "Who are you?"

"I am Evans, Johnson."

"Mr Johnson, what are you really here for?"

"To see Mr Felix like I said."

"From where?"

"I can't tell you that – it's personal."

"Was he expecting you?"

"Of course, call him and ask." I said.

Mr Raji shook his head and smiled again "You don't want to cooperate, Mister Johnson. Maybe by the time the police get here, you will cooperate with them."

"Why would you call the police?" I scowled.

"Because you were trespassing on this property and also harassed a member of our staff." He said grinning, without shifting his gaze from me.

I sat back and waited for the police to arrive.