Saturday afternoons in Lagos are usually so very noisy, buses honking, hawkers shouting, and music from nearby shops just mixing into one big street soundtrack, but inside of Mama Chioma’s provisions store, it was so calm, Chioma was restocking bread, Tunde was at the counter, attending to a customer, and two customers were chatting near the fridge.
Then the peace shattered in a blink of an eye....
The door banged open, and three men rushed in, one had a big gun, another carried a big black bag, and the third, clearly the leader had that cold, calculating mean look.
“Everybody go down! Now!” the gunman barked.
Chioma just froze for a second before dropping to the floor, one of the customers gasped, clutching his shopping bag like it would protect him, Tunde’s hands trembled as the leader slammed his palm on the counter.
“Open that safe now, No go do funny moves.”
“O… okay,” Tunde stuttered, moving towards the small metal safe that was behind the counter.
Everything was so tense until a man near the back of the door made the mistake of trying to sneak out.
“Where you dey go? You!” the gunman shouted, grabbing him by the collar.
“I… I was just.......”
“Shut up jooo!” The gunman pushed him to the ground. “Congratulations, you are now our insurance.”
In split seconds tgey tied the man’s hands with something that looked like an old shoelaces and sat him near the counter, the hostage’s eyes darted around, panic written all over his face.
Then came the wail of police sirens outside, the leader cursed under his breath.
“This is the police!” a voice boomed from outside, “Release the hostages and come out with your hands up!”
The leader gave a dry laugh, “Tell them we want a car. No car, no hostage.”
The negotiator’s voice was calm, “Nobody needs to get hurt. Let the people go and we can talk.”
The man who had been made a scapegoat hostage swallowed hard, his voice shook, but he still managed to speak. “Please… I have kids at home, Let me go, see you can take whatever you want, but don’t… please don’t shoot.”
Something shifted in the air, The leader glanced at the gunman “Guy, maybe we release him, Police don surround us already.”
The man with the gun hesitated,his eyes flicking between the hostages and also the door, and finally, with a grunt, he untied the man and pushed him towards the front door.
And the moment the man who had been tied stepped outside, the police immediately moved in, their loud shouts and heavy footsteps, and also sharp bang filled the air, and within seconds, the armed robbers were on the ground, their hands cuffed, their faces were pressed into the hot pavement.
The customers and staff were then ushered out, all blinking against the sunlight, Chioma just leaned on the wall, breathing deeply, while the man sat on the curb, his head in his hands.
Life outside the shop carried on , buses honking, hawkers selling, children laughing somewhere down the road, but for everyone inside that store, the afternoon had changed something.
Sometimes, in moments of pure fear, even the smallest act of mercy feels like the biggest miracle.
Image Is Generated With Meta AI
