CHAPTER SEVEN
1081 Words
THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE POLICE
Ngigmi is a small.town.at the boarder
of Niger republic, with a typical Moslem community. After all the hussles in the deserts and all the rivers and seecreeks in lake Chad basin Prince finally boarded a vehicle with some Fulani herds men. While he sat quietly, listening his inner man on how to proceed with his journey, they made fun of him when one of them carelessly brandished his staff and it almost pricked his eyes. He shouted "méfiez Vous" - meaning be careful. Though they did not understand what it means because all they could speak was their Fulani language, yet they made mockery of him with those words as they repeated them several times with funny pronunciations. However, he was very much concerned about the next phase of his journey. When they finally arrived the small town, the driver of the vehicle drove directly to the police station as the final bus stop and everyone was required to.clear himself by paying some.money to them as the custom has been. Everyone was allow to go but Prince insisted that he had no money. So he remained in the police station for hours sitting on a long bench that was placed at the corridors. while there he talked to himself " This darkness must turn to.light. We can't conquer what we can't confront. I must conquer and make my family great.". While he thinking about the way forward a young man entered with a big bowl of rice to serve as.lunch for the police officers on duty. As they were getting set to eat Prince quickly went and sat where the food was placed without anyone's invitation. When they noticed that he was really hungry and his participation will surely shorten their ration, they shouted at him and asked him to.leave the station immediately since they discovered that he had nothing to offer them.
Though not knowing where to go, he quickly picked his bag and left. as he kept making inquiries for travelling, he was told that vehicles leave only when there are enough passengers and it can take about two to three weeks. He lived and dined with the moslems not.minding how the end could be because he had no choice. Though they were not comfortable moments, he had to stay with them because he could find any christian around. The only christian that was mentioned was Monsieur Mamadou, who has been disowned by his family for being a Christian, virtually no more.living in the community.
For the first one two weeks, he suffered from serious diarrhea. He had a continuous running stomach with excrements running out of his body uncontrollably like water. He could not walk for five minutes without passing out watery stool.This continued for some days and he frequently went to the riverside with his bags of clothes to change since he had no home. Every day he will change up about five times due to frequent stooling. "What do I do?'. He talked to himself "before I die here.". He moved round the small town to find out whether he can find any chemist shop or pharmacy but not even one could be found .
Then God gave him an idea "Mix salt and and in water together and drink". He managed to get both items and a plastic bottle in which he poured them.in and mixed together. He kept drinking it, not.minding the dosage, all he needed was for the diarrhea to cease. After three days, he noticed that the the diarrhea has gone and he was now free. However he decided to make his anode with the Muslims he met since meeting a single christian in that the community was a herculean task. He lived with them as they integrated and shared things in common without any friction arising. But as time went on, they Muslims discovered his strong religious belief as a Christian, they set.i segregation. He was denied access to many things. In the morning when he gets up and wants to use the plastic kettles to get water, one of the will say "On utlise ça pour Notre abolution.". meaning we use it for our abolution.". and many other things. Those who even cared and showed some concern for him withdrew from him. moresharing if together. Despite all this, the young man was still resolute and stood his ground. He was seen as an untrustworthy.person.in their midst but he
maintained within him that his religion still stands as the best and the truthful. With this uncomfortable situation,.he prayed that the time for his departure should come fast. Due to the low population in that area, it usually takes two to three weeks for any vehicle to be fully loaded. So Prince will prayed for more passengers to pay for their tickets as soon as possible. It did not take.long and after a few days the vehicle was fully booked as goods were loaded while.passengers took their seats getting ready to take off. As he boarded the vehicle to Agadez, he soliloquizing of how his next moments after the journey will be. While in Ngigmi, he had two young friends who interacted with him from time to time. On the day of departure, they planned to dupe and frustrate him so that he would be stranded but he proved to be smarter than they. They told him how some police officers were some kilometres away and that they would definitely conduct a search so he should give them his money to keep since they are citizens. ". We know what to tell them in our local language ". After the police station, you can have your money back." They added. But he rejected the idea and told them that he is not afraid.of policemen and that there are policement.in.every street in his country so he will speak for himself.
They came to understand that their trick or lies could not work and some distance before the police check point, they jumped out of the vehicle. While at the chech point each passenger was asked to.pay the sum of 2000 francs CFA, (an equivalent of 5dollars). but as Prince presented his asylum documents, no one asked him a dime. He was only asked few questions such as "What is happening in your country and where are you heading to?". He was asked to go without even bothering to answer the question. The journey continued safely
without further Obstructions.
- Writer
