THE DAY I DODGED A BULLET

I dodged a bullet. That is the one line that aptly describes this kito story of mine. Was it even potentially a kito story? I don’t know. You decide.

The only regret I have is that I wasn’t fortunate enough to get information required to expose the man who tried to use me.

I met him via manjam. It’d been a long time I visited the hookup site, but I had my pin as my header, and so he sent me a request. I believed him when he said he had gotten to me from manjam because I don’t really do BBM much, and so my pin isn’t that attainable by everyone.

He said his name was Chucks. He said he was from Imo State. He said he worked as a member of a board for an organization in Lekki, Lagos. His pictures showed him to be tall and dark.

We chatted and steadily got more and more acquainted for about three months. And then he invited me over to Lagos. I told him I was busy in school and I didn’t see myself coming to Lagos from Benin in a 4 to 5 hour journey. He offered to pay for a flight. I acceded and he sent me thirty five thousand naira for my flight ticket. I made the decision to honour his invitation after my exams. When the time came around, I couldn’t take the flight because of some issues I had with booking.

I got to Lagos two days before the date we had scheduled to meet. I went to my brother’s house on the mainland. While I was there, I informed a friend of mine who stays in Lekki of my arrival. He promised we’d get to see and hang out.

On the day of the meet, I left the mainland around 2pm and eventually got to Lekki around 5pm. Chucks sent someone to pick me from the toll gate and soon, we got to his workplace. This was where I made my first mistake, when I didn’t take note of the name of the company. I was led past the boardroom to the place where I’d have to wait, and on my way past the glass-walled room, I spotted Chucks in there with about six other men having a meeting.

I waited for him till past 7pm, when he eventually came out to meet me with some apologies for the wait. We left the workplace immediately. In the car, I asked him where are we going to, and he said his lodge.

We got to the lodge. It is this big building close to the Law School. He got us a room and we chatted a bit while I made myself at home, you know, plugging my phone to charge and generally getting a feel for the room. Then he said he wanted to go home to tell his family that he wasn’t coming home that night. Apparently, he was married, and had neglected to tell me this in the three months we’d been chatting.

He left and once again, I was left on my own, waiting for him. Almost an hour passed and he wasn’t back. Wanting company, I pinged my friend, the one who stays in Lekki, and told him what was up. He said he’d come over at once. He also told me he’d be coming along with a friend of his who is both gay and MOPOL. I didn’t mind.

When they arrived, I went out to the bar to meet them. We ordered drinks and began gisting. We were chatting and drinking when six men walked into the bar. I instantly recognized them as the men I’d seen in the meeting with Chucks when I was at his workplace. They went to the bartender and from our table, we could hear them enquiring from the guy about trying to locate someone in a room who wasn’t there.

We, my company and I, were instantly alert to the oddity of what was happening. I mean, why would these men be looking for someone in my room who wasn’t there? Clearly, that someone was me. My friend pulled off his cap and handed it to me to put on, just in case the men were from Chucks, and Chucks had shown them my picture to locate me at a glance.

The bartender of course couldn’t help them. And so, they drifted away from the counter and began making calls. My friends and I got up from our table and while I hurried out of the bar with the MOPOL guy, my friend stayed back to pay for our drinks. I was with the MOPOL guy in the car they came to the lodge with, when we spotted Chucks return to the lodge. From my hiding place in the car, I could see him agitated and pacing in and out, his countenance that of someone clearly looking for something…or someone.

My friend later exited the building and we drove off. During the drive, the MOPOL guy told us that he’d recognized one of the six men who’d come into the bar as someone who usually drove past his bus stop. He said that whenever the man gets to the bus stop, there was a mentally deranged young man, whose haunt is the bus stop, who’d attack him. The story was chilling.

Soon, we got to my friend’s place, and that was when Chucks’ call came through on my second phone. In my haste to escape detection, I’d left my android phone and bag in my room at the lodge. When I answered the call, he began fuming, demanding to know where I was. I was equally infuriated and spat some insults at him, demanding to know why he hadn’t told me he was married and why he brought his friends over to look for me. He replied that he’d asked them to keep me company while he was away.

Yea, right! I wasn’t having that and I let him know exactly that. My harsh retort angered him and he retorted furiously that I was lucky. That he’d intended to render me useless like the others he’d dealt with. He said that by now, I would’ve been on the streets picking paper. And then he hung up.

His response had me rattled, in shock long after he disconnected. This all happened very recently, and I’m still reeling, still traumatized. But I realized my story had to be heard since apparently, this is the M.O. of this group of men. There are so many more details I could have sent to further expose them, but all I have on him were in the android phone I left at the lodge.

That notwithstanding, it’s imperative to know that these hookups with men, where the danger doesn’t lie in your humiliation and extortion but also in your use for diabolical purposes, cannot be overemphasized. Be warned. Be careful. Be wise. And may the odds forever be in our favour.

Written by MaxiMore