I was at the Chari Maigeri Barracks lokoja (Kogi State) as at 11:00 am this morning, when almost a battalion of soldiers from kaduna, Makurdi, Ibadan etc who have been camping here all the while, started filing out in about Eight truck loads. They were cocking their guns, singing war songs, preventing motorist from moving, as well as chasing away onlookers, as they move en route okene.
They scene looked more as from a war movie scene (Band of brothers), so i felt i should capture this electric moment on phone and share with my nairaland community. I located a spot in the crowd, brought out my phone and positioned it at an angle am sure no one would see it, not knowing that some soldiers were on mufti with us in the crowd. Before i knew it, one of them spotted me and this happened next:-......
soldier 1:Hey u, what are you doing?
Me: who me?.... gbosa! gbosa!! *receives slaps*
soldier 2: who is that?
soldier 1: he is holding a camera!
Me: its a phone, am listening to music gbam! liar! *receives another slap* kicks *more slaps*
-continued beating and phone seized-
soldier 1: You be boko haram abi? u wan tell ur people for okene say we the come hen?
soldier 2: drag am out, danboroba shege(hausa)
A soldier friend identifies me from afar, crosses the road, and immediately prevented me from being dragged out!(Thank God for that, i guess i would have been shot). Asked me to mix with the crowd and dissapear before others notice.
i ran and did not look back. Went back after an hour to collect my phone from my soldier friend who asked me to better go for thanksgiving on sunday, if he had not spotted on time i would have been history.
i wonder what came over me, taking a filmed shot of soldiers going on a shoot-out with those okene boys for killing two soldiers last week. So far, they have wasted over 57 people in okene since their raid started, no wonder okene is like a ghost town.
Thank God Am Alive, with my phone in good condition, but was unable to retrieve the videos because it was deleted before the phone was handed over. If not for my friend, the soldiers wanted me in guard room for 3 days with enough frog jumps.
Its a pity i lost the video, it would have been wonderful to have their parade clip here.
Courtesy Nextworldnx
