I have had many experiences when it comes to car trips. Some of such experiences are awesome while others are ugly.
One of my crazy experiences happened many years ago when I was in university. I finished my examinations for the semester and I wasted no time traveling to meet my parents. You know what the life of an average student looks like. Examination is always associated with a period of lack for the students especially the ones from average home. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I always manage to finish my examinations before traveling home.
On this fateful day, I went to the motor park very early with the intention of following the first vehicle going to Abuja from Jos. I was traveling to Ekiti and getting a direct car was difficult then. I had to break the journey and take another vehicle in Abuja.
I arrived at the park and I was booked to be the last person to board the bus before departing in a few minutes. I bought the ticket and while the motor park staff were arranging luggages in the boot, I excused myself to visit the restroom. I came back and saw that they had finished arranging the load and the bus was ready to go. I rushed to take my seat but I met someone seated on it. I was surprised with the development and I asked the ticket agent for clarification.
It happened that there was a mistake on her path as she sold two tickets for the last seat available. I initially insisted on taking my seat being the person that the first ticket for the seat was sold to but after persuasion from the people in the park, I opted to take the first seat in the next available bus. It took about an hour for the bus to get filled up and we kicked off the journey.
About two hours into the four hour journey, we met the passengers of the first bus being rescued from an accident scene. The bus fell into a ditch and occupants were being rescued. Though no death was recorded, some of the passengers were injured severely. They were transported to the hospital by a team of FRSC officials before we continued our journey to Abuja. I was touched with the accident as I kept wondering how I escaped it by the whisker.
Upon arriving Abuja, I got another vehicle, a car this time around, that I boarded going to Ekiti. The journey was five hours.
About an hour into the journey, I noticed that the busy Abuja - Lokoja expressway was deserted. In almost 15 minutes, the opposite lane had no vehicular movements. Experiencing such is strange going by how the road linking northern Nigeria to southern Nigerian could be busy. Someone in the car raised the observation and another person was of the opinion that we park and observe the strange development.
Unfortunately it was too late for us to implement any suggestion as we ran into gun weirding men of the underworld. At this point, I was almost peeing in my pants. We met an empty car whose passengers, I later learned, had been taken into the bush by some members of the criminal gang.
We were directed to alight from the vehicle. Four of them were in masks and the assault of unprecedented level started. We were whipped with horsewhip mercilessly. I was totally broken and was ready for the worst.
Suddenly, the sounds of gunshots enveloped the atmosphere from a close range. I concluded that the gunshots were those of the gang members coming to meet us. From the position where I was lying facing the ground, I noticed that the kidnappers had run into the bush. After a few minutes, I felt a tap on my back. I was scared to turn up to look at who it was that tapped me. The hand pulled me up and on turning my face finally, I saw a soldier who had come to salvage the situation. My whole body was covered with sweat. The soldiers inspected the other vehicle that was emptied before our arrival and concluded that the occupants had been abducted by the kidnappers.
The driver sort our opinion about the continuation of the journey. All of us agreed to return to Abuja and calm ourselves down before proceeding on the journey some other time.
I regretted traveling that day and I thank God that I survived all the tribulations that accompanied the journey.