WEB…Travails of a detective.
PROLOGUE
Hardwork and success are not the same thing, but hardwork serves as a catalyst to success, The inspector general swallowed and continued with his speech, Inspector james not only solved a fourteen year old case, he also made the Nigerian police, a force to reckon with in the world.
Due to his efforts in unravelling and solving this case, The President alongside other stakeholders in this country hereby bestow upon him, The honour of being a “member of the federal republic” coupled with his promotion to the post of Assistant inspector general of police, A position we all know he’s proven himself capable of holding. I therefore call on the president to present the award, The inspector general concluded.
I stood up with my shaking legs and started walking to the podium, then the events of the past years began to unfold…
EPISODE ONE…
Just fight a little longer my friend,
It’s all worth it in the end,
But when you’ve got nobody to turn to,
Just hold on and i’ll find you…
I hummed along with the song as i took the bend that led to where our apartment was located.
we lived in lagos and dad was home for the weekend as usual, he drove a truck for one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Abuja so comes home every weekend, i was the only boy in a family of four.
I met the door locked when i got home which got me surprised since daddy was always at home whenever he is around, i was still in my state of shock when i saw some sort of procession approaching our house, mum was held firmly by some men and my elder sister slowly tagged along. I ran to meet them , mum looked me in the eye and started to shout “They’ve killed him, they’ve murdered him” i could not comprehend and looked on in silence, my sister who was already crying hugged me and kept on patting my head, i silently asked, what is going on sis? She just kept on sniffing and tried so hard to control her tears.
A car slowly drove in and stopped, some family members i could recognize came down from the vehicle, The proceeded to the the back of the car, opened the boot and gently brought out a body wrapped in white linen, before placing it on the ground.
The body on the ground was my father’s. someone slightly raised the linen so people could see his face. in my distress, i forcefully removed the linen totally. It was a gory sight, on his stomach was carved the letter c, everywhere turned black and i passed out…
EPISODE THREE
It was a year after daddy’s death, life had gradually returned back to normal. Besides my senior secondary school certificate examination was fast approaching and I really had to perform well in it. I already sat for jamb and I had a reasonable score.
Rather than choose a university where I’d further my education like most of my mates did. I opted for the Nigerian police academy. I wrote the exams and passed. I only needed my o level results to cement my place in the academy. To become a police officer was never my childhood dream, but since my dad’s death, I always wanted justice to prevail no matter the price needed to effect the justice.
As expected, mum refused to support my decision, i didn’t blame her since i knew how she felt, i cajoled my sister into supporting me thereby helping me change her mind.
Tolu, “I’m going to disown your brother, his father died last year, and here he is telling me he wants to be a police officer, my mother yelled. Mummy that is his decision, let him be. All he needs now is your prayers, my sister Chipped in. It was not until the following week that she finally agreed. ”
I wrote my o level exams and patiently waited for the results, while I waited, I ceased the opportunity to learn boxing.
My joy knew no bounds when the results came out and I had all the necessary credits required of me to gain admission into the academy.
I started preparing as we were to resume the following month, since I had no relatives, mummy was saddled with the responsibility of getting all I needed in the academy.
I was getting ready for life…
EPISODE FOUR:-
It was a week to resumption in the police academy when an event occurred, I was having a discussion with mom in our backyard when my sister came calling, she said some people were inside our house to see mom.
We went inside and met some people already seated, i knew they were policemen due to their attire. mom greeted and they replied, Are you Mrs Matthew ola? They asked, yes, my mom replied. Any problem, she added. No ma, we are only here to ask you some questions as regards your husband’s death, they said.
Surprise was visible on my face as it was already more than a year since he died, and we already moved on, besides when we reported the case to the police then, they did nothing.
They asked some questions in which mom was able to answer some, i asked them if anything was amiss, they said nothing was wrong that they just needed the information, i was not satisfied as i knew they were up to something, i let it slide though. They went away leaving us in the dark.
I resumed at the police academy the following week, i did the medical check-up required of us and i was given a registration number “PA105” we were to be called by the number on the premises, i quickly settled to life in the academy. Life in the academy was fun and strenuous, we engaged in lots of physical exercises that by the third week my skinny look was already changed to a physically built structure.
We were shared into groups, i was made the leader of group g, this was obviously due to the positive and leadership qualities i exhibited during the few trainings we had before we were grouped. My assistant was a girl called tinu, the first time i set my eyes on her, i wondered what she was doing in the academy, she is too beautiful to be a police officer, so i thought.
Each group tried to perform better than the other groups so as to earn favour from the instructors, The best group usually enjoyed more freedom to train in some facilities that were yet to be legalized for us…
EPISODE FIVE:-
I was twenty years of age when I gained admission into the Nigerian police academy, I enrolled as a cadet inspector since my only educational qualification as at then was my secondary school leaving certificate, although we were given the opportunity to choose a course of study, i chose mathematics.
Our training was split into three stages, the basic, intermediate and the advanced level respectively. I spent a total of eighteen months in the academy, six months for each level.
The basic stage was quite easy, we were mainly drilled for physical fitness and other related activities. We were trained on how to handle a weapon during the intermediate stage, this stage proved to be the most interesting of the lot. We engaged in shooting exercise, we were thought traffic control ethics and lots more.
The last stage which is the final stage was the period we were made to put into practice, all the things we learnt. We were given crimes to investigate, cases to solve and much more. It was during this stage that I experienced one of the most shocking of my life experience.
Once in a while, distress calls are received from the city where our academy resides, in such situations some of the trainees as we were called are chosen to tag along with the qualified policemen amidst us, it was also part of our training although sometimes dangerous. such was the situation I found myself that fateful day.
PA105, The chief instructor barked, I hurriedly rushed to meet him as he was a hot tempered person. You called me sir, I voiced out after I saluted him. Yes, you along with PA115 will accompany us to town, our help is needed there.
PA115 was very popular among the trainees, he was my worthy rival and we never saw eye to eye, he was the leader of group d and popularly referred to as lekson coined from his real name, Leke.
We set out in company of some of our instructors in the academy, we were briefed about the situation, there was a robbery incident and we were the nearest backup available. I was scared even though we’ve been trained on the use of guns. I glanced at Leke and saw confidence written all over his face. I said my prayers and hoped for the best…
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