Episode 34
ANIKE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I opened my eyes and found myself in a room sitting on a chair, my hands were not tied though. I looked around and saw one of the hefty men.
âWho are you, what do you want from me? I asked and no one answered me.
He brought out a phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
âBoss we have her and sheâs awakeâ He put the call on speaker.
âAnike Adams!â I heard the monsterâs voice. It was Odigwe. âThanks for making my work easy, have been tailing you for the past one week nowâ
âCoward, you are a coward. Why canât you fight him man to man. Instead you want to use me as a bait to get to himâ I said.
âYou are wrong Anike, this is how a real man fight. Find the enemyâs weakness and use it against them. Anyways your lover has three days to give up the post or Iâll kill youâ
âEven if you kill me, you wonât get that post, you think the federal government will appoint you when they know you killed someone to take the postâ
âYou think so, letâs see if your old lover will choose you over the position. Anyway enjoy your stay and make your self comfortableâ
He laughed.
âGet me out of here this minuteâ
He ignored me âSniperâ
âYes Bossâ
âTake a picture of her and send it to me, Iâll forward it to Alawodeâ
âYes bossâ he said and hung up,
He snapped me and send it. Some minutes later he called back.
âThe guy picked the call and put it on speaker.
âAnike! Someone whoâd like to speak with youâ He said and I heard his voice. I couldnât help but cry.
âAnike are you OK, did they hurt youâ I was just crying the more.
â I promise, Iâll get you out of there my princessâ He said and the line went off.
The second day, sniper told me Alawode is not cooperating.
âInstead of him to cooperate, heâs busy looking for ways to get you out of here, instead of him to step down. He canât find you, he cant find my boss as wellâ he said.
On the third day, Odigwe called sniper.
âHelloâ he said and put it in speaker, I guesses he told him to do soâ
âCongratulations, I heard the monsterâs voice. Your Man really loves you, you are lucky girl having someone like Alawode in your life. He just called a Press conference now, he has stepped downâ He said sounding victorious.
âYou bastard, I assure you, you wonât get away with thâŠ..â Sniper slapped me hard on the cheek before I finished my statement. He placed the phone on his ear, itâs no more on speaker. They talked for for minutes before ending the call.
He covered my face with a hood, I was led out into a vehicle. They dumped me at no where in particular and zoomed off.
I removed the wood, I was in the middle of nowhere. I saw my phone beside me on the floor. It was off so I put it on.
I dialed Princeâs number.
âAnike! Where are you, are you OK?â
Iâm in the middle of nowhere, no vehicles, no sign posts, nothingâ I said
âLogistics team are here, donât disconnect, just stay on the line while they trace this call, hope you have enough charge on your phoneâ?â
âLet me checkâ I checked it. â34%â
âThat should be enoughâ
âWhat about airtime?â
Last time checked I still have 20 something thousand naira call cardâ I informed.
âGood, How long will it take, he asked the logistics team?â He asked the logistics team.
âThe reception there is very poor, it will make the trace slower. Letâs say 30minsâ
â30min is much, canât you do better. Anike please hold on Iâll get you out of thereâ
â25mins later, I heard the voice of one of the logistics. â Sir the signal is weak, making it hard to traceâ
âGosh, what do you suggest we doâ he asked them.
âShe should move around, so we could get where we can have a strong signalâ
âAnike! He called out. I heard them, I replied him and started moving.
Before I could take three steps, the line went off.
The sun was scotching the hell out of me, Iâm thirty and feeling dehydrated already.
I moved around searching for signal.
Then I saw a big snake, I almost stepped on it while searching for signal.
I ran, I couldnât believe the distance I covered in a minute, adrelanine at work.
By the time I stopped running under the hot sun, I tried to catch my breath. No tree where I could take cover just bushes.
I checked the signal and I got a not too strong one but better than before.
I called back. I was still panting
âWhat happened, why are you pantingâ Prince asked.
âI saw a snakeâ
âOh my God, are you ok?â
âYesâ
âThe logistics says the signal there is better, just maintain that position. Ok!â
âOKâ
âHow long will it take?â Prince asked.
âWe should be done in less than 30minsâ
âBut you said the signal is betterâ
âBetter sir, not strongâ
âAnike, just hold on a little. I love you, you know that rightâ
âYesâ
âRemember the last time we were in Parisâ
âI rememberâ
âRemember you thought me a dance, canât remember the name of the danceâ
âSalsa danceâ I cut in and I smiled faintly.
âYes, salsa dance, I couldnât get it of my head. That was the first time we danced together.
âYes and you learn very fast tooâ I said with a broad smile.
âThat moment is one of the moment I cherishedâ
âMe tooâ I said and smiled for the first time in three days.
He was using that to buy time. Till my location is traced. And it really worked because I almost forgot I was alone in that deserted area. He succeded in distracting me.
âWe have a locationâ I heard the voice of one of the logistics crew.
âGood letâs moveâ He said. I heard footsteps and all.
????
Few minutes later his voice came up,â we are coming for you Anike, Iâll bring you homeâ
âPrince, this place is scaryâ
âJust think of me and Iâll be thereâ. He said and I heard I need an angel.
The song playing at the background. I sang along quietly, moving my head slowly to the rhythm of the song.
Iâm sure the place is far from the city. An hour and some minutes later. I saw his motorcade. He alighted and ran towards me.
âMy princessâŠ..
âPrinceâŠâŠI hugged him and cried
I passed out but I still hear his voice shouting. âStay with me, Anike stay with himâ
I did not wake up until I got to the hospital, my clothes was wet. They add baptized me with water on their way to the hospital.
A female doctor attended to me, I was placed on IV fluids. She told Prince, Iâm fine, that itâs just dehydration and stress. She said that after taking the fluids. He placed me under 24 hours observation.
Prince was with me all through, He said one of his staff to get some food for us. He spent the night at the hospital, no change of clothes, nothing. He sat right next to me. Till daybreak.
The doctor examined me in the morning, he said Iâm very much OK. I was discharged. We left the hospital for Princeâs house.
Admiral Odigwe was automatically given the post because his opponent, Prince stepped down. He came back into the country two days later. But unknown to him, Prince in collaboration with the President had plans for him.
Odigwe names was forwarded to EFCC. EFCC dug some dirtâs on him. At a particular year when he was handling a post at the federal level he embezzled some money. He was arrested and probed and taken to court.
All evidences pointed to the fact that he was guilty. Heâs assets were seized, his account was frozen. He was relieved of all his posts including the one he snatched from Prince through his dubious means. He was sentenced to 7years imprisonment.
The appointment was given to someone else, Prince rejected the offer. He said heâs longer interested.
A week later, when I was very much okay, I answered to Prince. There is an adage in Yoruba language that says
âYou first send the fox away before coming back to the the fowlâ
âAnike, we need to talkâ he said authoritatively. That voice was not nice and I know he wants to talk about the kidnap.
âIâm sorry Prince. Iâm sorry for everything Iâve caused you especially the positionâ I said calmly.
âPosition! You almost lost your life because of your stubbornness.
âIâm sorryâŠ..â
âI told you to stay back from work till everything is over but you still insisted on going to work. No, you didnât leave this because of work because you were kidnap on your way to the airport. You plan to leave Abuja without my knowledgeâ
âPrinceâŠ.â
âHang it there. Do you know what would have happened if I did not step down?â
âI knowâ
âNo you donât know. If you knew you wonât left your exhorts behind. Odigwe would have killed you without a trace or evidence. He was making calls from outside the country and destroyed the Sim immediately, hence he couldnât be traced, not to talk of the guys who held you hostageâ
âI know I acted foolishly, Iâm really sorryâ I apologized.
He was so mad at me, I wondered how he managed to control it for days.
I went to bed quietly that night. I decided to wait till he calms down.
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