****episode 1****
It was a hot morning in Ketu;
the type of morning which
makes everyone wish it would
rain or better still that a
massive cloud would cover
the sky and block out the sun
completely but there was no
respite for everyone. The
traders at the ever busy
Kosofe market were already
about business and the fact
that it is a Thursday made
them more vigorous in their
attempt to get the attention of
their customers. It was just a
couple of minutes past 10 in
the morning and the market
was beginning to fill out. The
customers were already
coming in and the traders
were in a mad rush to display
their wares. It is always like
this during opening hours
and this Thursday morning in
April is not any different.
The market opened late today
due to a directive from the
Lagos state government that
says that all markets must
clean their environments
before 10am every Thursday
or risk closure. A lot of
markets have been shut down
due to this directive and top
on the list include the
Automobile market at Ladipo
and the popular fruit market
at Mile 12 so the traders battle
every Thursday to keep their
environment clean before the
Lagos state waste
management authority
(LAWMA) inspection agents
show up at their door. The
cleaning process that morning
went the way it should have
gone with each of the traders
showing up as early as 6am to
clean his/her immediate
surrounding and then
gathering the flit in a dump
made available by the
government.
The earliest customers were
pouring in from buses
bringing them in from one
side of the Ikorodu road while
the rest coming from the
other side of the road came
through the pedestrian
bridge. The commercial buses
on the side of the market
were already set up for
business as the time before
trading commenced had been
dull but now, the day is just
beginning. The few who had
managedto display their
wares were already shouting
on top of their voice in a form
of oral advertisement; calling
on customers to come buy
what they had. Some were
basic and some just so
interesting that even if you
were not interested in buying
what they had, you would be
pulled to look at the person
advertising.
The noise from the sellers
combines with the noise from
the old rickety buses most of
whose engine did not
completely burn the Premium
Motor Spirit (PMS) they used as
fuel created a feeling of chaos
from all around. The fact that
the conductors of the buses
were also screaming and
calling out their routes did not
help the noise situation one
bit. In the course of the night,
it rained making the floor
muddy and that was even an
added disadvantage to
everyone but still as though
the cosmic conspiracy against
everyone was not enough, the
sun was beating down on
every one.
The market was along the
ever busy ikorodu road
expressway which ran from
Yaba to Ikorodu making it one
of the longest state operated
roads in the country and
keeping the sanity there
traffic wise is the dreaded
Lagos State Traffic
management Authority
(LASTMA). Their men are
always on ground here to
make sure the traffic keeps
moving asthe road is one of
the most important ones not
just on mainland Lagos but in
the whole state.
Some meters away from the
market stands a branch of
Cadios bank, one of the most
profitable and financially
stable bank in the country.
The bank had opened the
branch forbusiness besides
the market more that 5 years
ago just after the re-
capitalization business by the
then Central bank governor
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The
bank is big and occupies a
space that is the envy of other
banks. Even the banks in the
area envied it due to its
distance from the market. The
queues at the ATM gallery is
always filled and even the
banking hall is always filled
with customers either
depositing or withdrawing
money so they acquired more
ATM machines. It was a great
idea because it reduced the
number of customers coming
into the banking hall to
withdraw but it did not help
those who wanted to deposit
money into thebank. These
consist mainly of traders who
prefer putting money in the
bank’s vaults than their
houses.

*****episode 2*****

The fact that there is always a
large population of customers
withdrawing money makes
sure that there is always a
high amount of cash
exchanged by the bank. Most
times, the bank, gives out
more than it takes in and such
money is brought in by heavily
guarded armored vehicles
from the central bank branch.
The bank made money and
business is always good and
this Thursday is not any
different.
There is an entrance for
customers and a “back door”
for taking in and bringing out
money. The entrance to this
back door is always locked
and armed police men could
usually be seen at the
entrance as they always stop
non staff of the bank from
venturing near that entrance.
When the vans bringing in
money are about to enter or
depart, the whole place would
be shut down and nobody
would go in or out until the
money has made its
designated route. That is the
standard procedure taken by
the bank in a bid to avoid
mistakes and prevent a
Vehicular .
Inside the banking hall was
spacious. The counter had
cubicles for more than 12
cashiers but they are not
always filled with them. On the
right, were the offices of the
head of banking operations
and some other offices for
some of the staff. On the left
was the customer care
department where more than
5 staff attended to the various
issues and complaints of the
customers. It is supposed to
work more like an avenue for
customers to ask questions
about the services the bank
provided that they did not
understand but they dealt
more with complains of
customer who had issues
with their ATM cards. In front
of the counter is a huge space
where the customers queue
up mostly as they wait their
turn. There are three long
chairs that can naturally
contain 3 people comfortable
at a corner opposite a section
of the corner for customers
who would rather sit while
waiting their turn to be
served. In front of the
customer care section, there is
a walkway that leads to the
bulk room which is used to
handle large sums of money.
At the opposite side of the
busy expressway, the bank
acquired a plot of land just for
its customers to park their
cars as it was becoming
difficult to drive to the next
point and turn just because
they want to do some
transaction so they would
easily park there, make use of
the pedestrian bridge to cross
the road and carry out what
ever transaction they want to
carry out and this morning, a
silver colored Toyota Hiace
pulled up into the parking
space and three men got out
of it while the driver remained
in the car. Security at the
space barely took notice of
the bus and its passenger
because they assumed that
the driver was a designated
one bringing in his bosses to
the bank.
Almost immediately, a Nissan
Serena pulled up into the front
of the bank and blocked the
entrance to the car park of the
bank itself. A traffic official
walked up to the car to see
why the bus was parking
there and to suggest other
spaces to park when two men
(one sitting beside the driver
on front and another beside
the door) got out of the
minivan clutching automatic
rifles and started firing into
the air indiscriminately. The
door on the other side
opened and the remaining 5
passengers got down leaving
only the driver in the car all of
them holding the same match
grade rifle as the men who
alighted previously.
While the two men were
shooting, everyone around
scampered for safety and that
included both customers and
sellers at the market close by.
One of the men who got out
earlier walked towards the
road and stood there with the
gun pointing parallel to his
feet now and shouted;
“Everybody get down or you
will get killed” and he opened
fire.
Some people who were
peeping and trying to see
what was happening got hot
pieces of lead shot into them
as suddenly, the ever busy
Ikorodu road became empty.
Cars had turned around with
accuracy that could only be
imagined as they all
scampered to safety. The
traffic officials controlling
traffic at the bus stop also lay
down with their faces in the
muddy water while some who
were fast ran into the market
complex.
The market at this time was
now a ghost of itself. There
was screams from people
who have been struck by stray
bullets and those who were
not hit had found somewhere
to hide. Even the disabled
beggars who sat at the
entrance of the market were
nowhere to be found. The
remaining 5 men who had
got out of the car later ran
into the bank’s compound
and within seconds, everyone
making a transaction at the
ATM machines were on the
ground one of them said
calmly;
“We don’t want to hear your
phones ring and we don’t
want you looking up. All you
should do is lay down as you
are and stay down or else, you
will be killed right there.”
story continues*****