The past hunts every human, subconsciously or not, like a dog fixating on a bone. Thinking of unforgettable experience, to be frank, I have had many. Memories are funny in nature, you know you had experienced it but only the feelings of having lived through it is left, while the pictorial side of it looks blurry. Instead of digging through my memories, I decided to dive into my gallery. In search of memories I might have captured, believe me it is messy in there. Strolling through hundreds of images I came across this specific image I captured years ago and instantly I became quiet, not because the picture is amazing but it was due to the memory its represented.
Photograph is one of the greatest invention of mankind due to its capabilities to capture moments and retain memories. Most Nigerians might have forgotten but for some us that really experienced several cruelty during the incident that led to this image, the memories of the event is still fresh and traumatic for us. October 8 2020 it was when the whole endsars protest started, I could remember it like it was yesterday because October is my birth month and the protest began fully a day before my birthday. I remember how worried I was about the whole birthday celebration looking at how things were.
At that time, I was doing a job or should I say jobs. after leaving Lagos traffic radio, I had the opportunity to work in two different organisations, I was a risk management officer and storekeeper at Duncan maritime limited which is located at Adeniyi Jones and also I was working at olukunle ibiloye and Co. at opebi, as a PA to the boss. He was an auditor and he was barely around. Since my job as a risk management officer is one day off and one day on, I use my off days to work for Mr ibiloye as his PA. The whole process was stressful but manageable and the pay was good.
I had an apartment in opebi estate, few blocks away from Mr ibiloyes' office and passing through Allen avenue, I could quickly get to my second job without taking a cab or bike. During the endsars protest, there were a lot of road blocks and it was affecting the employees of both companies. The management adviced the employees to work from home to prevent endangering their lives.
The whole protest continued till October 20 2020, when hell finally break loose, in the night of October 20 2020, the Lekki massacre happened, making everywhere extremely chaotic. On October 21 2020 a curfew was announced to reduce the rate at which angry protesters and hoodlums were vandalising government properties in retaliation for the Lekki massacre. Everywhere became dry like a ghost town, anyone found outside is at risk of being arrested by law enforcement agents but that didn't stop people from burning tyres on the street and main roads. On that same day, lag bus park at Ojota was set on fire, which is just few miles from opebi, we could see the smoke from a distance so we knew what was going on.
It became so scary that we could not step outside to get food, apart from the things available within opebi estate but most shops didn't open due to fear of vandalism. Everywhere was under lock and key, it was as if the populace of earth moved to another planet. I experienced several painful incident during the curfew of endsars protest, especially the one I nearly got shot by a gun or should I say I got shot at but the bullet kind of missed me. I also shared the experience on my blog.
After about a month and some days the curfew was not lifted but it was not as serious as it used to be. It was kind of a little free to move around during the day but everyone on the road is always on the look out because you have no idea what kind of danger could befall you unexpectedly. Since I was a risk management officer in Duncan maritime limited I had to visit my work place to check the condition of our warehouses.
I had to pass through Allen avenue to get to Adeniyi Jones but on getting there I was shocked by the emptiness of the vicinity. for those of you familiar with Allen avenue in Lagos State, you would know it is one of the most busiest place in Lagos State filled with motorist and hawkers. That was when I took the above picture just to remind myself what the consequences of severe conflict could be and how I survived.
This write-up was inspired by weekly prompt unforgettable experience in hive-reachout community.
@adebayowrites @ayaba01 @omodeborah2000 check this out.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image 1 - Image used is mine
