The Ilorin Shock EPISODE 15

Episode Fifteen: Same Road, New Light

When Ramadan had only a few days left, they took us to the park.

That alone felt like a miracle.

We were told we were going to spend the holidays with our family. Hearing that felt like weight lifting off my chest. For the first time in a long while, my mind rested. We travelled and reunited with our people, and those weeks felt like healing.

For three full weeks, life was gentle.

I slept well.

I ate without fear.

I laughed without watching my back.

In my heart, I believed it was over.

Then it was time to return.

We went back, expecting things to continue normally. But when we met our former teacher, something felt off. He didn’t welcome us the way we expected. Instead, he said something cold and final.

“Go back tomorrow.”

He refused to collect anything from us. No food. No items. Nothing. Just told us to leave.

I didn’t understand.

My father was in Lagos at that time, so he didn’t know what was happening immediately. When he finally heard, he thought carefully and told us,

“Stay till after Ileya.”

So we waited.

After Ileya, we moved again.

But this time, the road surprised me.

I thought we were going back to Oyo State.

We didn’t.

The road led us back to Ilorin.

Same city.

Same environment.

Same area.

My heart sank.

So we are back here again?

But this time, it was different.

Very different.

We were taken to another house still within the same area where we had suffered before. Yet the atmosphere changed the moment we stepped in. The air felt calmer. The people felt ordered. There was discipline, but no fear hanging in it.

This was the house of a great man.

Mallam Babulhameen.

What shocked me most was what I later learned:

He was not just any teacher.

He was the teacher of our former teacher.

He was also the teacher of my father.

That alone explained everything.

This was the root.

The source.

The master.

His house was filled with students not just from one place, but from many places. Different backgrounds. Different stories. It felt like a world gathered in one compound.

When Mallam Babulhameen saw us, he didn’t shout. He didn’t threaten. He didn’t look at us like problems.

He welcomed us.

That simple act almost broke me.

He spoke calmly, correcting gently, observing wisely. You could feel knowledge and kindness living together in him. This was not a place where children survived by silence. This was a place where students grew through understanding.

Then he called one boy and said,

“Show him around.”

That boy was Olanshile.

From the first moment, Olanshile treated me like family. He didn’t laugh at my past. He didn’t question where I came from. He just accepted me and showed me the routines, the rooms, the learning system.

As I walked around that compound, something inside me healed quietly.

I realized something important:

I thought I had returned to the same place of pain.

But I hadn’t.

I was still in the same area, yes but I had entered a different world.

Same road.

Different house.

Same Ilorin.

Different destiny.

For the first time, Ilorin didn’t feel like a punishment.

It felt like preparation.

And though my past was still behind me, following silently, I knew one thing for sure 

This chapter was about growth.

And it had only just begun.

To be continued… Episode 16