THE NIGHT WE ALMOST GOT KIDNAPPED — PART 2

The next morning, we woke up still trying to process everything that had happened to us.

We kept replaying the night in our heads — the checkpoint, the soldier, the gunshot, and how we somehow made it back to the hotel.

Then we heard something that completely changed the way we looked at the whole incident.

Three of our colleagues who had also attended the final-year party had reportedly been kidnapped around 7Up, along Ugbowo Road.

Two boys and one girl.

At first, we thought it was just a rumour.

You know how these things are. Somebody hears something, tells another person, and before you know it, the whole place is talking about it.

We even saw reports making the rounds in the news, but from what we understood, efforts were being made to keep the details quiet to avoid causing panic.

Then, thankfully, the three were released.

That was when the story became real for us.

One of them, Tony John Okafor, later told us what had actually happened.

According to him, they were passing through 7Up along Ugbowo Road between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., almost immediately after we had left the area.

Some men dressed in security uniforms stopped them.

At first, they thought it was a normal security checkpoint.

The men asked where they were coming from and where they were going.

They explained themselves.

But instead of allowing them to continue, the men insisted that they follow them.

Before they could properly understand what was happening, the men forced them into a red-and-yellow bus.

There were three of them — two boys and one girl.

The men drove them towards the road leading to the Lagos-Benin Expressway and eventually took them into a bush.

Imagine being taken somewhere you don't recognize at that hour.

No people.

No traffic.

No idea what is going to happen next.

They were then instructed to call their parents.

But the situation became even more disturbing.

One of the girls was reportedly molested because of the outfit she had worn to the party and was almost raped.

Thankfully, negotiations began, the police became involved, and after some time, the three were eventually released.

What really frightened us was the timing.

From everything we pieced together, they were kidnapped almost immediately after we left that same area.

That meant the situation we experienced earlier wasn't something we could simply laugh off anymore.

The party was supposed to be our final celebration as students — the night we would remember because we had finally completed university.

Instead, it became a night of fear, confusion and trauma.

Some of my friends still struggle to talk about what happened.

And even today, when I think about that night, one question keeps coming back:

What if we had stopped at that checkpoint?

What if we had decided to sleep in the car instead?

Maybe we wouldn't be telling this story today.

All I can say is GOD IS THE GREATEST ❤️ 🙏🏻