The Ilorin Shock Episode 12

Episode Twelve: When Fear Took Over

That night, we were finally home but home no longer felt safe.

The fight didn’t reduce.

It grew.

What had started as shouting and chaos turned into something far more dangerous. Word spread quickly through the area: area boys had shot a soldier in the leg. The injured soldier was carried away, and for a short moment, there was silence.

But that silence was not peace.

It was preparation.

When the soldiers returned, everything changed.

There was no mercy.

Anyone seen outside was a suspect.

Anyone who talked too much was a target.

Anyone who looked like they were watching was in danger.

Fear ruled the streets.

People locked themselves indoors. Doors were bolted. Windows were covered. Even breathing felt loud. From inside the house, we could hear boots, voices, commands sharp and angry.

Then something happened that sealed fear into everyone’s heart.

There was a man known as Baba Fatima.

Baba Fatima liked to see everything. If something happened, he wanted to know. Even when no one called him, his eyes would still be involved. He lived inside the kaa behind our house the same place we used to spread clothes.

That night, as soldiers moved toward the area boys’ headquarters, Baba Fatima did what he always did.

He peeped.

Quietly. Carefully. Through a small window.

He didn’t know that one soldier noticed him.

Before anyone could warn him, the soldier turned and struck him hard with the butt of a gun on his head.

Just like that.

Baba Fatima survived but something inside him changed forever.

From that day, Baba Fatima never peeped at anything again.

Even if he heard a loud sound before he could confirm whether it was a plate falling or a voice shouting he would run immediately and hide.

Fear had rewritten him.

The fight didn’t end that day.

It lasted one full week.

Markets were destroyed.

Food sellers lost everything they had that very first day.

People went hungry not by choice, but by force.

Ilorin felt wounded.

Every morning we woke up unsure.

Every night we slept alert.

Every sound made hearts race.

Then, one day, something unexpected happened.

Our teacher considered something serious.

For the first time, he thought about running away.

He talked about carrying us out of Ilorin to Lagos to escape the danger. The idea alone felt unreal. Leaving everything suddenly. Running from fear. Starting again somewhere else.

The fight eventually ended but not before it left scars in people’s minds, in homes, and in memories.

And even though calm slowly returned, nothing was ever the same again.

Because once you see fear rule a place…

You never forget how close everything came to ending.

And just when we thought the worst was over

Life was preparing another chapter.

To be continued… Episode 13