JOURNEY OF NO RETURN

JOURNEY OF NO RETURN

Episode 1

Mama Tiwalade jumped from her bed in the middle of the night . She was sweating profusely. She had another nightmare again .

” Tiwalade get up let’s pray “.

Tiwa yawned turned on the light on her android phone to check what the time was .

” Mama it’s four A.M in the morning? Why do we have to pray so early ?

Tiwa complained , she was not happy her mum woke her up so early , when she knew that she had slept very late , staying awake till one A.M to help her mum prepare stew for the next day . Her mum owned a restaurant in Gbagada where she sells to fend for her five children , whom her late husband left behind.

” Tiwa I saw that terrible nightmare again , I saw that you were kidn*pped and beheaded by ritualist .”

Tiwa was scared whenever her mum said something like that . Her mum had been seeing terrible dreams this past few weeks. They prayed and Tiwa went back to bed. As early as six she was up she swept the compound woke her siblings up bath them , helped her mum to fry fish for sales , then prepared for school. Tiwa was in SS3 at nearby town’s secondary school.

” Tiwa come let us pray ”

Tiwa assembled her siblings together they prayed , had their morning devotion , Tiwa’s family was a very religious one .

She joined a vehicle that took her to the next town .

” Good morning students ”

The principal said .

” Well as I told you on Friday that all the JSS 3 and SS3 students who have not registered for WEAC after the assembly I advise you gently go and pick your bags like tortoise and go home to your parents because if I come to your classes and meet you !!! I’ll make you regret the day your mum gave birth to you.”

The students refused to go home , they enjoyed the thrill of being chased by Mr Bolaji , the head master . It was around 10 AM that Mr Bolaji stormed the SS3 block . The students scamper for safety , many of the students who had not registered ran away , only a handful had Paid . He flogged the unlucky students and chased them out of the school’s gate .

Tiwa walked with five friends and classmates. She and Bisi were best friends, they had been class mates from primary five , Bisi had paid her WEAC fee but she didn’t want to stay back in class while her bestie was going home , she joined the throng home . The class was almost left empty .

When they got to the bus stop Chike flag down a Bus with a few passengers in it , Tiwa’s spirit told her not to join the vehicle . Others had entered while she and Bisi were still standing outside .

” Tiwa , Bisi are you guys not going ? We can’t wait here forever.”

Bidemi asked .The driver was getting inpatient hunking his horn.

” Tiwa what is it ?why are you not moving? Shouldn’t we join this bus ?

Tiwa joined the vehicle and Bisi joined her .the driver picked some people on the way . The bus was full . Bidemi was the first to complain about the foul other in the bus . The driver asked his conductor to fleet the bus with air freshener spray . He sprayed the fleet , and everyone became drowsy and sleepy . Everybody in the bus was fast asleep, Chike was snoring like an old generator. Tiwa was asking the driver why he took a different route suddenly the conductor , produced a pistol from under his hoodie sweater and told Tiwa to be quiet as a grave or he would shoot her there .

They drove for hours out of Lagos to a typical village in Oyo state . The occupants of the vehicle were sleeping like dead woods the kidnappers had to off load them like logs .

Tiwa was just praying to God to not allow this people to harm them , in the big warehouse , where many people were tied hands and feet and left in the room .

They collected all their phones and gadgets.

Mama Tiwalade was edgy throughout the day at the shop , her mind was unsettled , she called Tiwa’s number, but the number was switched off , she decided to wait till 3 PM . Tiwa didn’t come she began to panic . She called her sister who was a teacher at Tiwa’s school who confirmed that Tiwa and her class mates were driven from school for WEAC registration since morning .

They called Bisi’s number it was also switched off . They called her mum’s number to see if Bisi and Tiwa were there . But her mother was surprised that Bisi wasn’t at Tiwa’s place .

Mama Tiwa ran to the school she searched for Tiwa , she was only able to get information that Tiwa left with five of her classmates .

She called her pastor and asked him to pray for her missing child . She went to the police station to make a report nothing could be done for her there .

Mama Tiwa wept she was terrified .