They stole my laptop, and nobody came to help me!!!! August 27, 2007

I was going to put in this edition of the blog, all the things that okadas and the riders had done to me. I was going to detail the near kidnapping, the burn on my leg, and the danfo incident where I fell out of the moving bus because the driver changed gear abruptly. I was going to detail it, and don’t worry that will soon come but I have to tell this story first.

What incident I hear you ask, well to put it simply, I was robbed and beaten by two men on an okada. .

I’m not sure I let you know, but due to holidays and co, I had to move from Lekki back to Ikeja, the place of my weekly exodus, my parents home, the place I had hoped to escape, but more on that later. What this move meant was that I had to wake up at 4.30am and leave the house at 5.45am to get the staff bus from Maryland for 6.30am.

On this particular morning, (22/08/2007) I left at the usual time and had walked about 15 minutes to go and get the bus, when suddenly out of nowhere, an unlit okada drew up in front of me. Before I knew it one of the men on the bike leapt off grabbed hold of my laptop case and demanded I give it to him. Me being the hard headed heifer that I am said NO, I had seen something shiny in his hand, but I was so angry I just said NO again and started screaming for help.

Don’t get me wrong, I was not being brave, but I was in a lit place and less than a few steps from me, there were about 20 people men istanding doing nothing, so when I screamed I expected some help. Anyways, to cut a long story longer, he started pulling at the bag and I held on, shouting for help, screaming for help. When he saw that I was not going to let go, he started punching me, I fell to the ground, and he started kicking me, but I held on, it cost me a lot of money to buy that laptop, I took out an overdraft that I am still repaying to buy that laptop. Eventually the strap of the bag broke and the man jumped on the bike and they drove off.

Now this is the unfunny thing, less than two seconds after these men rode off, about 4 people approached me asking if I were alright. They started asking if someone stole something from me, how horrible these okada men were, what was wrong (at this point I was howling and saying I wanted to go back to England, there was a lot of snot). When they started to say all of this, well you know me, I turned and screamed at them, telling them they were evil, seeing me struggling and crying for help and nobody coming to my aid, I went on for a bit. I mean I was holding onto that bag for about 2 mins, in fact I thought to myself during the struggle that this man did not have a gun or knife, because if he had he would have killed me. Either way I turned to them and told them that they were wankers and that they should go fuck themselves, and went back home, crying and broken

It has been a rough couple of days, because of the incident, I have to leave my place of work, its just not safe trying to get to work in the morning. The only way to get to work and have any money at the end of the month is to take the staff bus, and the bus leaves at 6.30am on the dot. So my mother in her infinite wisdom has decreed that I have to work closer to home, her argument is that she only gave birth to 2 children and that she holds each one in one hand each so nothing will happen to them. I understand the motivations, and I am in agreement, but what still boggles my mind is the fact that I screamed for help and no-one came.

I know that I am to blame, after all I took my laptop with me in a place my sister tells me is one rung up from hell, but like all other victims I never thought it would happen to me. Its just something you hear happen to other people, and it is a rather old and useless tale to tell. I feel really demoralized, I keep being told that I should not have fought, what if they had a knife or gun I could have been killed, but you know in a way I wish I had been.

You see all I am aware of at the moment is that my life is destined to be a punching bag to the world, knocked around here, left to suffer there. England, Nigeria, all I am able to do or be is a victim of life,( boy would Femi be proud of me quoting his song title in my depression I have become a tale in one of his songs). I am trying to put on a brave face, they keep telling me that at least I have my life, and that I should increase my face value, the problem is that I AM VERY UPSET. Yes, I am and ANGRY, at myself mostly, I should have known better.

Gotta go, I won’t be able to update as often as before, you know, as I told you my laptop has been stolen and the place I could get wireless connection is a thing of my past. Don’t miss me too much, I will be back soon, I just need to go and lick my wounds of which they are many and bleeding.

This naija life hard o, if things continue this way, I go end up naija girl, before you fit say OLE.

Don’t worry, I am just a bit depressed at the moment, but looking back, this is not a new thing, so look out, because when I get back on this super highway, I would be driving like a danfo driver high on ogogoro with titles such as:

Is ambition ever too much?
Can you justify being second best?
Would you accept a boob job for a present?
Men and their machinations - ok so this one is an ongoing thingy!!

Look out for Okada don kill me o