OSHODI, LAGOS STATE
Flourish Bambi, the Lagos Police Commissioner, was out of sorts this particular evening. Her mind was calculating the risks, the pros and cons of what was at stake.
It was way past working hours especially for her, being a top official, but the passion she had for her work kept her late into the night most of the time. Especially with the recent case of kidnapping that had rocked the state, threatening to tip her, as well as the worried-sick families of the victims, off balance.
Kidnappers had intercepted an unsuspecting coaster bus on its way to a tourist attraction, and had captured a total of fourteen young children and teenagers, a man and woman who were their tour guide, as well as the elderly bus driver.
After three days of their disappearance, the leader of the Alpha Shadows branch that operated in Lagos State sent a video message to the families, claiming they were the ones who rounded up those victims.
The cries of fear and torture of the captured victims that those hooligans had intentionally allowed to waft into the video—which had its background blurred so as to protect their identities and the location where the abducted victims were kept—was the only proof that this was not a hoax.
289
If each of these tiny pups weren't ransomed in a week's time with nothing less than ten million naira each, the gang leader had threatened, then they shouldn't be surprised if all they met were the empty shells of their loved ones on dumping sites. The gang leader left the hanging threat that organ transplant and the demand from ritualists and slave traders was still very high; it was a rather profitable business.
That mysterious information snooper who called himself Omotola had contacted the Police Commissioner of Lagos State again, shortly after the incident.
Again, this time, he made outrageous claims.
He gave her specific details of the Alpha Shadows hideout in Lagos, telling her that that was the only covert place they could stow those kidnapped victims to.
She couldn't help but wonder if this Omotola was an ally or just another strategy of their foe to rope the Nigerian Police Force.
She was skeptical, but didn't have much of a choice. It was either she followed his lead, or she drifted aimlessly like a feather in a whirlwind.
The families had been pressing hard on her to hasten up with capturing the perpetrators as she had assured or else they would cave in to their demands and give them the money they had asked for.
Flourish didn't want that at all. She wanted to capture those scoundrels with her bare hands and make them face the full wrath of the law.
She couldn't be a weakling. No, she had to surpass the achievement that she had seen the Rivers State Commissioner attain. She had to be the latest hero of the country, no matter what it took.
290
"Let's hope this isn't a con," she muttered as she sat back, donning her imaginary boss lady garment, and began to place necessary calls to get her team ready.
This time around, it would be an all-out free-for-all, if that was what it took to bring the pain-in-the-butt called Alpha Shadows down.
---
"Alright everyone, we know what we're facing. This is no child's play. It might get really bloody. But remember we are going to save lives and serve our country just as we swore when we were inducted into the service,"
Flourish said, addressing her team of roughly thirty armed police officers through a walkie-talkie.
They had not had enough time to go into details. She'd just sent an emergency memo and asked them to follow her when they gathered.
So, as they drove right from the police station where they had converged, she'd been briefing them about this mission.
They followed her lead in a motorcade. She was the only one who knew the destination. Nobody thought to question her judgment. If the boss lady says go, you don't hesitate.
She, trying to be discreet about this operation, had ordered that they all ride, not in wailing siren police vans, but in normal civilian-worthy cars. Neither should they wear their police uniforms; only they should wear bulletproof vests underneath their casual clothing.
291
As she drove mindfully into the slum area that Omotola had sent her as the Alpha Shadows' hideout, their chain of cars brought curious stares from dirty, bedraggled, hungry-looking clusters of people and children who lived there.
Her heart clenched. She desperately hoped there would be a way to evacuate these innocent citizens to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. She had a strong feeling that this time around, there'd be a face-off between the police and the Alpha Shadows gang. She was ready. But, she couldn't bear to see innocent lives wasted on her watch.
As they rode further in, she realized that the location was a gigantic factory which had what looked like a warehouse beside it. And thankfully, it was farther away from the area of the slum designated for residence.
Their target location was on the outskirts, the deeper fringes of the ghetto.
She shut the engine, eyed the structures, coming up with a quick infiltration plan, and whispered into her Walkie-talkie, "Lay low. I go first, then on my count, you'll come after."
Responses of agreement filtered in back to her, disrupted at intervals by static.
She signaled to the two companions that rode with her in her vehicle. A man with the stamina of an eagle, who was her second-in-command, and one of the best female detectives on the team.
They got out and walked to the gate as if they were regular customers of this place.
Flourish quickly refreshed her memory as she took powerful, yet casual strides towards the gate.
292
Omotola had given her a secret code word that would grant her unrestrained access in case they were met by resistance.
"Who are you people?" The gate man who looked as if he had carried too many weights in his lifetime questioned them with a deep frown when they knocked.
"We're here on business," Flourish replied in her toughest voice.
"Well, I say vamoose. No customers are expected today. Leave now before I lose my temper."
The man's scowl was intimidating, much more his baritone voice.
"We've come to see the power that obstructs the light!" Flourish hid her disgust as she said it. That was the code. Omotola said it meant Alpha Shadows.
The man smiled ruefully and nodded.
"Na wetin you suppose talk from beginning be that. Alright na," he said in pidgin as he opened the gate wider,
"You sabi your pikin, mama. No forget drop small tin for am."
But Flourish had other plans. As she stepped over the threshold, she caught the man by his throat and gave him a quick powerful shove, thrusting his back to a wall on the left corner close to the small entrance they'd walked in through.
He reeked of smoke and alcohol, and it showed in his bloodshot eyes too.
293
His face, stunned and shocked, turned purple as she cut off his blood and air flow.
She brought out her pistol and waved it before his face. She loved the terror that flashed through his face.
"Now, you're going to tell me exactly where those victims are, or I will blast your brain," she said calmly, methodologically, her angry face inches away from his.
Though the man was choking, she frowned as she saw the quick smirk of defiance that came across his face.
In a flash, she saw as he struggled to bring out a gun from his holster. As she turned her attention to the place his hand was reaching for, in a bid to stop him, she realized she wasn't fast enough.
The shot came out, loud and faster than she expected.
She winced, through gritted teeth, as she felt the bullet tear through her flesh and muscle and was embedded in her femur. Her grip on him weakened. Blood poured out of her thigh, dampening the jeans she wore.
Her second-in-command, the eagle-like man who came with her, immediately swung into action.
He hit the gate man's jugular with the butt of his handgun and dragged him to the nook of the gate to tie him there.
Oh, dear!
294
Those inside the factory warehouse were definitely already alerted.
Flourish shook off the maddening pain that caused her to haunch over as she grasped the spot right above the gunshot wound. She brought the walkie-talkie to her mouth and rasped the command, "Division 11.5, take position immediately! Squad 12.1, make your immediate infiltration! Now!"
Immediately, the team of thirty weapon-wielders marched in and took their positions.
Flourish was led back into her vehicle by the female detective who did her best to stop the blood flow before getting back into the action.
"Make sure you don't back off before rescuing the victims," Flourish said emphatically to the detective, her teeth clenched from the pain that shot through her system with each movement.
Once the police team burst down the warehouse door and came upon the gang, they realized—not too surprised, but apparently a second too late—that the Alpha Shadows boys were ready for them.
Bullets sprayed from AK-47s, sub-machine guns and pistols as the gang, which currently comprised about twelve apparently inebriated men, tried to salvage their territory. The rounds pinged off obstacles and the metal wal that the warehouse was made of. The sound ricocheted through the hollow space.
The police men took cover behind doors and stacks of whatever-it-was-that-these-goons-had-piled, but two of them were already precariously hit by bullets. One on the shoulder. The other was saved from having a shredded torso by the bullet proof vest he wore.
295
The second-in-command issued the order for the intelligence snipers of the police team to take them down.
Piuuu!
Piuuu!
Two of the Alpha Shadows gang members were hit by a bull's eye, and they fell on the hard floor, dead.
The others, seeing that they were outnumbered and couldn't stand a chance, tried to run off.
"This is the police! We have you surrounded. Put down your weapons now!" the second-in-command shouted in an authoritative voice.
But they wouldn't give in so easily; their boss would kill them.
The sporadic gun shots continued as they shouted amid themselves, obviously confused because their only point of escape had been cut off.
The female detective realized that they had to figure out who was in charge here and then get him to surrender.
It was only then that the others would follow suit.
296
From her corner she signaled to the second-in-command and pointed to the one she suspected as the leader.
That supposed one was tattooed on his neck and had a running scar from his shoulder to the back of his palm.
He was the one shouting commands and handling the most menacing gun.
The second-in-command got the message and passed a silent order with hand signals. Two police men threw tear gas into the warehouse. In no time the place was filled with the eye-watering and stinging gas.
The police squad all put on their mask, plodded in and started to round up the gang boys who were now splayed on the floor, gasping and choking. They put them all on cuffs and began to shove them roughly in a pile outside.
The detective and the second-in-command went straight for the leader, and after a few seconds of struggling with him—he was a strong and stubborn one—they finally held him in cuffs.
Shoving his frame with much effort to stand upright, they commanded him to take them to the place where they kept the victims.
His intention was to stubbornly deny anything of such, but a few punches to his gut had him changing his mind in no time.
Defeated, he grudgingly led them there. It was an underground store at the back of the warehouse.
"It's okay. We're the police and we've come to rescue you," the detective said softly to the bundle of whimpering and shaking abductees in the well-like basement.
297
While the second-in-command personally saw to the deployment of the gang leader, the detective and other police officers carefully raised the abductees up from the hole one by one.
The victims, who looked starved and unkempt, were crying with relief.
She handed them over to the First Aid medic team that had followed the police officers.
---
Flourish Bambi was more than relieved that the mission was successful. At least her injury would not be a waste.
When the news hounds swarmed the area some minute later, she was happy, despite her pain, to report to them that all the victims had been rescued.
She was one step further than the Rivers State Police Commissioner. Even better and much more fulfilling, she would definitely soon catch up with that self-righteous Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Aisha, or whatever her name was.
298