Mr. Lekan and his men were taken by surprise as law enforcement agents raided his den and arrested everyone found at their den. Next was the arrest of the two Alhajis connected to Mr. Lekan and the two military officers, as well as the ministers involved. Finally, the president’s ADC and the Chief of staff who was also indicted in the crime was arrested. Three drug and armed smuggling cartels were unraveled. The Rivers State governor was arrested for murder and drug trafficking and human organ trafficking. At the beginning of everything, the governor and Mr. Tony went into hiding but were later busted and arrested when they intend fleeing the country by boat. The evidence was very overwhelming giving them no chance to deny all charges and allegations leveled against them at in the court of law. They were all found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad except Alhaji Danladi who along the line, we discovered that he was been indicted in a crime he knew nothing about. This happened during the impeachment sitting of the state governor at the state house of assembly. We followed the lead and realized that it was Alhaji Danladi’s wife that was running the dirty drug cartel with Mr. Lekan’s men using Alhaji Danladi’s name without his knowledge. The only thing Alhaji Danladi had with Mr. Lekan was pure business, just as Mr. Lekan presented himself to be, a genuine business man at the surface and drug and armed smuggler beneath the surface. Just that in this case, Alhaji Danladi was his business partner on the surface, while Alhaji Danladi’s wife was his business partner beneath the surface. Alhaji Danladi was released and compensated, but the detail of who impersonated his name was kept confidential, for we had our scores to settle with her and get Agnes’ daughter back.
It’s been weeks since the release of Alhaji Danladi, we received an invitation to his house in regard to Agnes’ daughter. We honoured his invitation to his residence and were met with a warm reception, courtesy of our host.
“Welcome to my humble abode gentlemen and ma’am”, Alhaji Danladi greeted as we each took a seat at the same time reciprocating his greetings, the living room was cozy as befitting a man of his status. We were so joined by his wife who appeared contrast to her husband; Alhajia Fatima was the complete opposite of Alhaji Danladi. She appeared nonchalant and cold toward everyone that was present, her husband inclusive.
“Permit me to introduce you all to my wife…”, Alhaji Danladi began nodding toward Alhajia Fatima with his eyes on me and Mr. James.
“We already know her sir, no m=need for further introduction”, Mr. James cut in politely.
“Okay then, that solves everything”, Alhaji Danladi chirped in with smiles.
“Sure sir”, Mr. James faked a smile.
“I must commend you guys for a job Weldon, that was the real journalism carried out. You uncovered hidden secretes, cartels and plots. Although I was indicted at first, your hard work vindicated me. I never knew that someone was working in the underworld with my name. if not for you, I won’t have known. For that, I want to thank each and every one of you”, Alhaji Danladi smiled looking at us.
“It’s okay Alhaji, we were doing our job… no need thanking us”, Mr. James smiled back.
“You won’t understand…I mean, the determination, commitment and risks involved… is worth more than just a ‘thank you’. You guys deserve a presidential award each and lots of funds to keep up the good work”, Alhaji Danladi laughed and was soon joined by the rest of us except his wife.
“We are honourned to be here Alhaji, please can you let us know the motive behind the invitation?”, I interrupted politely as Alhaji Danladi continued to smile more.
“Yes…”, Alhaji Danladi responded and continued, “…there are basically two reasons why you guys are here. The first and most important is the girl you claimed is Agnes’ daughter. You know, I have boys and I badly needed a girl child. When my wife got pregnant, I took her for scanning to know the gender of the child that was coming. My joy knew no bound when I was informed it was a girl, my long time dream. But that dream came crashing the day you guys paid me the first visit to claim the child, I discussed it with my wife who didn’t agree to the ideal of a DNA test. As a faithful and sincere Muslim, it’d be against my faith to take by force what is not mine and at the same time, won’t want anyone to rob me. So the solution? We need a free and fair solution”, Alhaji Danladi rolled his eyes at his wife.
“DNA test?”, Mr. James asked him while he nodded.
“I am the man here, so I make the decision. If my wife is honest and sincere with me here, she have nothing to fear, unless there’s skeleton in her cupboard”, Alhaji Danladi snapped his finger at the end of his speech.
“And the second reason?”, Biggie cut in.
“The second reason, someone was using my name for an underground deal and I believe who so ever the person is…he or she must be someone close to me. I want you to help me investigate and expose the person. They’ll be made to face the wrath of the law for ruining my hard earned reputation”, Alhaji Danladi stared at me eyeball to eyeball while his wife shifted uneasily in her seat.
“From the corner of my eyes, I saw Biggie and Alhaji Danladi’s wife staring dagger at each other, I took a quick glance to be sure others were aware; unfortunately, no one except Agnes was aware of t he eye war going on.
Consider it done Alhaji, we will start soon and you will get a feedback from us”, Mr. James responded.
“About the financial aspect, don’t worry; because I will bank roll you guys, all expenses ranging from petrol, car maintenance and other expenses would be on my head”, Alhaji Danladi assured us.
“Don’t worry Alhaji, our media house already got that covered”, Mr. James declined his offered politely.
“And I insist, this is more like my own personal contribution and gratitude to your efforts and for a job Weldon as well as the new job ahead”, Alhaji Danladi pressed
“If you insist Alhaji. You should know it is voluntary, we didn’t ask for it or asked you to pay us for doing our job, both the ones we have done and the ones we’re still going to do. It is from your free will that you are doing it”, Biggie chirped in forcing Alhaji Danladi to laughed out loud.
“Of course, there is no gun pointed at my head…I voluntarily pledged my support for you guys are exceptionally brilliant and determined in discharging your duties as investigative journalists”, Alhaji Danladi stood up as he walked toward a suitcase, picked some bundle of cash, walked back to his seat. Dropped the money on the table and stared at Biggie, “That is two hundred thousand naira, for a start. Use it for fuel and other logistic expenses as you embark on your quest for justice”, Alhaji Danladi announced, prompting Mr. James to stand up and pick the money from the table.
“Thank you for your support Alhaji”, Biggie thanked Alhaji Danladi as we all rose to our feet and made toward the doorway.
We arrived at the parking lot, and when everyone was about entering the car, Biggie came towards the driver’s side of the car.
“Thompson, sit at the front passenger seat…let me take the wheel, Agnes and Mr. James sit at the back”, Biggie instructed.
Without asking the motive behind his instruction, we did as instructed.
Biggie ignited the car, reversed back, gradually drove out of the compound and stopped come meters from the gate.
“Buckle your seat belts”, Biggie gave another instruction we all hurried to execute.
“I hope we are not preparing for fast and furious now?”, I asked Biggie who only smiled.
“Worst than that”, Biggie replied, now driving the car at 30km per hour.
“Please don’t drive us to heaven”, Mr. James pleaded from the back seat.
“At least heaven is better, he should not drive us to hell”, while we all except Biggie laughed.
His eyes were on the road, obviously observing every angle. The car at this point was going at 60km per hour. Just then, Biggie swerved to the right, then left to avoid two vehicles that just came from around the bush, as if just wanted to blockage us.
“This is it, get ready for the speed of your life”, Biggie announced as he stepped on the accelerator, the two vehicles behind were now giving us a chase.
“Life?”, Mr. James asked with wide eyes.
“That’s what I heard also”, Agnes answered him.
“Lord please, take the wheel”, Mr. James made signs of the cross, forcing me to chuckle.
At that point, I became grateful that Biggie took over the wheel. He drove so madly and expertly that I began to realize gradually where Isadora might have learnt her driving from. Such crazy driving that you won’t even feel yourself inside the vehicle. It was like I was in a movie where they were performing stunts with a speeding vehicle, but the difference was that the stunt was on a Nigerian road, with a crazy driver on the wheel, with no camera or camera man recording us, it was reality. The chasers soon began shooting at us, prompting Biggie to smile.
“I was expecting that, what took them so long? All of you, keep you heads down”, Biggie instructed and we hurriedly did as instructed.
Biggie seems to know what he was doing and where he was driving to. Maybe, he wanted to drive us crazy, and finally to our death. For that was what the situation seems like when I raised my head to peep at the road, I saw a giant pothole covering the road coming into view and Biggie was speeding madly toward it.
“If I should survive this, I promise to sack this man as my driver”, I heard Mr. James from the back, but managed to suppress my laughter. If only he knew what lay ahead, he would have peed on himself or probably.
“Gradually, Biggie slowed down screeching the tires and passed the pothole filled with water without getting stuck, sped off some meters, stopped and surprisingly turned the vehicle and faced the chasing vehicle. More like a head on collision with the two incoming vehicles. What separated us the incoming vehicles was the pothole. Biggie opened the driver’s door, sat still and fired shots at the oncoming vehicles, one drove straight into the bush while the second got stuck in the pothole. Like a careful and professional gun man, Biggie eliminated all the occupants of the vehicles. Then sat back, close the door and reversed the vehicle, drove off to our destination.