The year 2024 hasn't been that favorable to me, and I can easily say because seeing this prompt it didn't take me over a minute before I was able to list at least three though times I've undergone this year alone, but then I'm grateful for life and hopefully that things will get better with time, like it's commonly said that tough times don't last but tough people do. I guess my resilience and will are one of the driving forces that have kept me going this year, and in this article I'll be telling you about some of my hardest experiences this year, how it went, how I sailed through, and many more.
Like I said, I've had loads of hard things I've done and gone through this year, and that's why it's much easier for me to have something to say and talk about one of the hardest experiences I've had this year. I'll say it's relating to my health; it's actually not easy on me going in and out of the hospital throughout the year. I'm not sure there's any single month I haven't had to visit the hospital from January till October due to my deteriorating health issues.
What makes this hard one me more is regarding the financial downside of this whole need to visit the hospital on a regularly on a monthly basis leads to me spending nothing less than a hundred thousand naira on a monthly basis just on purchasing drugs and paying for medical treatment, and that is gradually leaving a dent in my savings and as well halting other plans I had laid down for other aspects of my life.
While all of that was being managed, just late last month I was plagued with another hard occurrence that left me depressed and worried. The second hardest and most recent hard times I had to deal with happened on the last Saturday of September, when I was called by a strange number that informed me of the fact that my elder brother has been kidnapped and that we must pay a sum of 10 million Naira ransom if we want to see him alive, or else it's his dead body that we'll see the next time we see him.
This came as a shock for me because he had told me earlier that day that he'd be returning home to Kwara state since he was done with the work he went to do in Ekiti, so I tried to call his number once the kidnappers dropped the call, and it was then I knew he had truly been kidnapped because none of his numbers were reachable.
I was perplexed on what to do: should I call my parents, who are too old, or his wife, who recently just gave birth to their second child, or should I just run around to see how I can gather the money they demand and hope they'll release him? At the end of the day, I realized it's not something I can shoulder on my own, but I don't want to inform my parents and his wife because I'm afraid of what the news will do to them.
So I called some of my uncles, who are younger than my dad, and they then also spoke with the kidnapers, but we make sure to inform the police about how he's missing and how we've been contacted by the kidnappers, but we can't depend on the police because they didn't even show any sign of zeal that they'll search for him or trace the number used by the kidnappers to call us.
My uncle was able to plead with the kidnapers that we don't have up to 10 million, and after days of pleading and negotiation, they said we must pay a sum of 3 million Naira for his ransom, and so the next phrase began, which is to look for the money. Most of my uncles, although they helped with the negotiation, couldn't contribute more than two hundred thousand Naira from the three million Naira asked.
And after running around without seeing anyone that's willing to borrow me that much money, I had no choice but to take a loan of three million Naira from a firm that requires me to pay 10 percent interest, all thanks to God. Before I was able to place a call through to the kidnappers to inform them that the ransom is ready, I got another call from a strange number, and I decided to pick it, thinking it's the kidnappers again.
But on picking up the call, I realized it was the voice of my elder brother; he sounds like someone who just concluded a marathon, and while catching his breath, he told me he was able to run away from the den of the kidnappers the night before, and he has been running since then, so he decided to call me immediately. He got to a remote village and saw someone who lent him a phone to call.
Hearing this news lightened my mood, and I felt at peace for the first time in 6 days since he was kidnapped. The villagers directed his path to a motopark, and that's how he got home safely, even though I couldn't see him because I was miles away. Yet his wife, who has been worried and calling me in recent days, called me when he got home, and I was able to speak with him once again. The wife told me he has many bruises on his body due to the torture of the kidnapers, and I advise he should visit the hospital and get a thorough medical checkup and treatment.
His return home was a relief for me, and it was after he arrived home safely and was back from the hospital that I told my parents about everything that happened, although they weren't pleased that I didn't inform them of what happened. But then I explained I was also concerned about their health; even my brother's wife, who had been calling me for days, never told her anything was wrong, and she only found out when he returned home.
Overall, I'm thankful to God, and luckily I don't have to wait a long period before I can return the loan I took, as I immediately returned the three million Naira plus the ten percent interest with the two hundred thousand my uncles contributed, and hundred thousand from my savings. This is the first time I'm experiencing someone close to me getting kidnapped and believing me. I don't pray for such to anyone because the trauma isn't bearable at all.
All photos are mine.