Chronicle Of A MARRIED MAN

WOW!!!



Many years back when I was still a hustling young chap, I was working as a factory worker in one of the manufacturing companies around to make ends meet. Morning shift starts from 6:am, ends by 6:pm while night shift starts 6:pm and ends 6:am. 

Two of my area guys and I had just returned from work that evening around 7:pm, we sat outside the compound, legs wide spread on three stools, devouring our delicious bread and moimoi that we bought on our way back home. 

From nowhere, a car pulled up and three men came out with a boy of about 18 or 19 years in age. The boy moved closer, pointed at me and said "He is the one".

Me and my guys exchanged glances, "which one, what?" I asked. One of the men said they were police officers and I should remain silent, they asked him , "are you sure?" he said yes. They brought out handcuffs and cuffed me, said I will know what I did when I get to their station.

To cut the long story short, police said this teenage boy came to report that a guy robbed him on our street that evening and collected 20k from him, so they brought him to the street and I was the culprit. I was beaten, not given a chance to defend myself, locked up in the cell.

 My guys came to the station with two elderly men as none of my relatives were around.

 The police told them that I was a thief, I waylaid the boy and snatched 20k from him and that I will go to jail. They now said my people should pay 50k if they want me to be released.

I spent the night in the cell. That was how I met some other guys who had been accused wrongly and locked up. They told me that the policemen in that station have some boys that work for them. When they are broke, they use these boys to frame people up and extort money form them.
They told me that the boy who lied on me was with them the previous day, chatting and laughing with them. He and the others were frequent visitors.
Daybreak, my dad came down with a lawyer. I told The lawyer what I heard in the cell.

The lawyer interrogated the boy and asked where he got the 20k from, the boy said it was settlement from his master that he had served for 3years as apprentice.

The lawyer now asked him if he could take them to this master, he said his master had travelled after settling his boys. Lawyer said he should take them to the location of the shop where he served, at least neighbors will recognize him, he now said the shop is located in another state, five hours away, that he just came down to this state in order to settle here and start something. That was when the lawyer flared up and told him and the police officer in charge of the case to take it to court. That the boy will go to jail for defamation of character as it was obvious that he was telling lies.

 He told him to get a good lawyer and then left the station after telling my dad to go and relax, that they will teach the boy and his accomplices a lesson.
Sensing trouble, the officers called my dad to a corner and told him not to follow the lawyer, that he just want to make money from us as he will collect charges.

 They told my dad that it was obvious that the boy was robbed but he did not know who robbed him, that my dad should just give him 5k and the boy will write an agreement that he doesn't want to do case again, that they will release me. My dad complied and I came out. When I heard what had transpired in the absence of the lawyer, I was very angry. I wanted the case to go to court so that the boy would open up on those who sent him.

 The lawyer too was not happy that my dad gave them 5k and ruined the chances of going to court.

On getting home, an elderly man told me that my dad did the right thing. He said if he had insisted on going to court, they could have framed me up by bringing guns or matchet or any other weapon and claim they found them on me. He said if that did not happen, they may have told the boy to disappear the next day and we would not see him again and I would remain in cell or pay the 50k and left off the hook.

This incident made me so angry and sad. Everyone in the neighborhood heard about the case and some believed I stole from the boy truly. I hated the police for that incident, up till now and i pray such never happens to my kids or yours.