Near Miss

SIXTEEN

It took two weeks but the men on the ground confirmed that Kayode went to Cape Town international airport in the morning. The police stationed men at the international airport in Lagos and Abuja. Indeed he arrived at the Lagos airport late in the afternoon. After extensive interviews with Poju the police decided to take a risk and leave him be temporarily to reduce the heat of his arrest. Poju suggested that Kayode is sure to ditch his aides to indulge in his whoring habit. Like clockwork the men watched him give instructions to his aides before he drove away on his own to a hotel where he lodged. It was very easy. The police set up an ambush and arrested him, and in good time to save a young lady from physical and s****l abuse. As the police barged into the room, they saw Kayode holding the young lady by her hair. They were both naked and he was angry.

“What is this? What is the meaning of this?” He fumed, but did not let go of the lady’s hair.

“You are under arrest for the murder of Rita…” The police went on to read him his rights.”

The lady scuttled for her cloths and disappeared from the room.

He was picked up without trouble and he will never be found by his father until the day he will show up in court.

From this moment on the fierce battle to keep this case alive has started.

The senator walked out of a session that was all but ended at the national assembly because he could kill someone from his anger. He needed fresh air and a cigar. Who is dumb enough to arrest his son? Who are the people that just signed their death endorsements? At the moment he could not think. He got into his car and barked at the driver. Fortunately for the driver he had seen the senator with this demeanor before so he knew exactly what to do. He got the car moving and just kept on driving until the senator tells him to stop and get out of the car. The moment came and the senator called doc.

“You incompetent fool, they have arrested Kayode!”

“I heard.”

“I want this thing killed; do you hear me!”

“We must have missed something.”

“I will get him released immediately. I want you to remove all bases for another arrest!”

“I am on it.”

His next call was to the inspector general of the Nigerian police.

“Hello Mr. IG”

“Senator Agbaja.”

“I wish my call was more cordial but this an emergency. I just learned that my son has been arrested in Lagos a few hours ago. Upon his arrived from Cape Town into the country and the Lagos state police picked him up.”

“I am sorry to hear that senator. I will look into the matter immediately.”

“IG, I would like him to be released immediately.”

“Certainly senator, I will wade into the issue and see what can be done.”

“IG, I do not appreciate the hesitant tone in your voice. This is my son we are talking about.”

“I can assure you that he will be released immediately once I look into it and there is no cogent cause for the arrest. I believe your son is not a criminal so there must be some misunderstanding; which I intend to clear up immediately.”

“Are you saying you will not order his immediate release?”

“If I do not look into the matter before instructing my men to release him, I would have hindered them from doing their jobs.”

“In that case look into it quickly”

“Immediately, senator.”

Idiot thought the senator. The IG has just lost his favour. One day he will understand what it means to lose the favour of a man as influential as senator Agbaja.

For the first time since this whole saga started, he is actually concerned about losing control of the situation. He should have sent that foolish boy to the UK.

The Doc retraced his actions and discovered that not one but two people were found in that bush and one of them was still alive. From the hospital his trail went cold. He checked with his police informant and learnt that they were at a safe house. To his shock he also learnt that Poju Cole was not dead. When the initial embarrassment wore off, he could not but admire the ingenuity of the police officers who were one step ahead of him; something he did not see often, especially in this country.

For a moment he was tempted to walk away from the scenario because he had a gut feeling that the senator was out of luck. Instead he determined to see this closure through first before leaving the senator to his devices. The first place to start is the Hospital where poju was declared dead. That doctor who deceived everyone must be working with the police. One way or another that doctor will tell him everything he knows about the policemen that took Poju. Sure, enough those men will value their families more than Poju Cole.

The twenty-four hours surveillance team stationed around the doctor contacted the lead investigator about suspected activity around the doctor. After a while it was confirmed that the doctor was being followed by a man driving a BMW.

As the doctor approached one of the many red traffic lights on his way home the man in BMW parked his car and moved towards the doctor. He knocked on his glass and started motioning for the doctor to wind down. As he did, a gun was stuck to his face.

“Open the doors”.

He entered the car just as the lights changed to green and the car was off.

“What do you want?”

“Just drive. Do as I say and there will not be problems.”

“Where are we going?”

“Where were you going?”

“Home!”

“Then go home.”

The moment the doctor parked his car and stepped away from the vehicle, a shot was fired that took out the Doc.

The police had expected that the senator may go after the doctor that covered Poju’s survival. At the same time the police were able to use the incident to identify the personnel leaking police information. It was all guess work based on solid intelligence working like a well-oiled machine.

The Doctor was highly cooperative to allow the police watch him, especially because it is for his own safety. The car was bugged, so the police knew exactly where they were going and was waiting for them.

The day was particularly a victory for the Nigerian police because the mercenary known as Doc is no small catch. It is no surprise that a man like that is about the senator’s business. Of course, this cannot be proved now that the Doc is dead; not that the police expected that a professional like the Doc will be sloppy with information of his clients. There was no opportunity to try to take him alive as this will put the doctor’s live at risk. It was a shoot to kill; a clean shot to the head.

All the resources of the police have been stretched thin to keep this situation under control. The stretch cannot be sustained for too long, so the police is putting the courts under immense pressure to hear the case.

In a secret location a top priority meeting took place between the lead investigator of the case, the inspector general of the Nigerian police and the preceding Judge of the case. The meeting lasted for hours as the parties listened carefully to the depositions of Saake, poju, the resort manager, and the agency manager. Dots were connected and the Doc was tied to the bush killing and the attempted murder of Poju Cole. The IG agreed that what they have is enough to go to court and bring Kayode Agbaja to justice but nothing there is strong enough to hold the senator.

“The senator cannot be tied to the Doc from all you have. You either find something to tie them together or you let him be and go after the son.” The IG said.

“We do not have the time or resources to press further without laying the kayode case to rest.”

“The senator will not back down. Do a press release early tomorrow to turn on the heat and keep him busy.” This made the judge look at him curiously.

“He expects some kind of special favour. I want to ensure he does not even remember anything outside his troubles.” This made every one smile. Such media propaganda is sure to end his political ambition and clip his reaching wings.

“This whole thing will burst open tomorrow and create publicity for the court hearing the next day. Massive media and public attention are the best security in cases like this. Once the people know what is going on there will be nothing to try and protect. The senator will be done.”

With that the IG got up an opened the door of the penthouse that leads to the helipad. A helicopter was waiting to get him back to the capital before day light and the story breaks.

The lead investigator and the judge waited till the helicopter was well on its way before they returned into the penthouse. They went over other details that will determine the overall outlook if the events of the next couple of days.

First personnel must be deployed to the judge’ premises, in and around the federal high court Ikoyi, because it is not certain how many Docs are out there on the senator’s business. The identities of the investigators will be revealed tomorrow as well. As much as this is shaping up to be the case of his career, the investigator wants to remain alive to savor the euphoria of it all with his family. This will require round the clock protection of the families of the men involved in this case for a couple of days.