After the stressful day at work, I retired to my house. I made a nice dinner for myself, and after eating, I laid on my bed to allow the nutrients of the food to circulate well. Oh yeah, I know it's a bad habit, but I couldn't help it.
Around 6:40 p.m., I decided to take a shower, and I was inside the bathroom when Nelson, my neighbor, rushed inside my house and let my spring door bang so hard. Gbaaaa!
"Who's that?" I asked with all my curiosity.
"Guy, it's me; there's a run outside," he replied.
I'm not easily moved by things like that. I knew he was referring to troubles outside, but I wasn't moved at all.
So I continued with my shower, and after like three minutes, I came out of the bathroom and asked him what was really happening outside.
"Oh boy! Cultists are in town, and everyone is running up and down because, according to what's trending, three of four guys have been lighted (killed)." He said as he went on to peep to see what's happening from my window.
"Haaa! People can exaggerate a lot, you know?" I said this in the midst of laughter because I was sure that fake news had taken over the air.
"You're laughing? This is very true. Go outside and see people closing shops and running away."
I wore my jersey and headed outside. Indeed, people were running up and down.
The weather was still forming to get dark, and I was so surprised at how cultists could demonstrate the boldness and bravery of causing havoc in the city during the day.
Where are the policemen? The answer to this is very clear.
At that time, the police went into hiding because, I'm sure, the cultists were bigger than them.
Our compound is a big one with a large unfenced space, which we use to relax in the evening on chairs.
I and Nelson stayed outside, getting news from passing people, and just as normal, all of them were having different sides of the story of what's happening in town. Some of them said two opposing cults are fighting each other, while others said the cultists are hunting the police because they killed one of them.
We were still outside when a lady (a neighbor) came out to show us what she just saw on her WhatsApp status. The videos contained guys that were killed at the center of the town by the cultists.
The videos looked so real, but I didn't believe any of them because this is Nigeria, and we are good at circulating fake news.
We were still outside, receiving fresh breeze. We were well relaxed but on alert to run inside our houses at the slightest unfamiliar noise.
Then, Nelson's dad called him and told him to go to bed on or before 9 p.m. because police were raiding the town. Yeah, a curfew.
I wasn't surprised because that's what the police are good at—moving around to pick innocent people.
It was already 9 p.m., and we just had to go to bed to avoid police troubles.
The next day, we heard that truly, cultists were in battle, and the hit continued to the following days, and the 9:00 p.m. curfew was effective until last week's Saturday.
Thanks for reading.
This isn't a fiction
This is my entry to the Week 89, Edition 01 of the Weekly Featured contest in Hive Learners Community.
