As the sun rose on the horizon, it became clear what had happened: "We narrowly escaped the unexpected attack of the robbers last night!" This thought occupied my mind in the morning as I watched the sun rise and illuminate our surroundings a day after the unsuccessful robbery attempt. Despite being a preteen, the incident had a profound effect on me, forcing me to ponder over it and imagine the terrible fate that my family and I would have suffered if not for the alarm raised by our fleeing neighbour.
Arms and ammunition often used to carry out robberies
Hello, everyone! I hope you are all doing great. The short narration above is an overview of an incident I intend to share as my entry for this month's thought-provoking prompt. Despite the unpleasant memories that the incident stirs up in me, I have decided to still narrate it. Let's proceed without further ado!
Our neighbour had recently returned home from Europe that year
During the dry season of 2002, one of our neighbours, who had been living in Europe for quite some time, finally returned home. His family, elated about his homecoming, held a welcome party to celebrate his return. The event turned out to be elaborate, filled with pomp and circumstance. Everyone present seemed impressed by its magnitude and the high quality of the reception offered. The grand nature of the party made it an object of admiration, widely talked about by guests from within and outside our neighbourhood.
An elaborate welcome party was organised for our neighbour by his family
Two weeks after our neighbour arrived from Europe and had a grand party held in his honour, an unfortunate event took place in our neighbourhood. Unknown to our returnee neighbour and his family, he was being monitored and tracked by a gang of robbers who received news of his homecoming and whose attention was further attracted by the extravagant celebration that marked his return. The robbers, after carrying out extensive surveillance and spending a great deal of time plotting their operation, executed a surprise attack on a Friday night.
A gang of robbers planned to steal from our neighbour
They successfully broke into our neighbour's house that night after evading security. However, the expectations of the robbers were deflated when they discovered that their target, our returnee neighbour, was not at home during their raid. This news made them hostile towards his family, whom they had gathered in the living room after dispossessing them of their valuables. Frustrated by the absence of their main target, the robbers attempted to know his whereabouts by assaulting his family. During the process of extracting the information from them, a member of the family courageously escaped by jumping downstairs through the balcony after knocking down one of the robbers.
The robbers damaged our windows after shooting at them
This was the moment the robbery escalated as the robbers gave chase. The bolting victim, while attempting to escape, jumped over the fence between our houses into our premises. We were having dinner in our house at the time when we suddenly heard someone run past our window, screaming "Ole, Ole!", which means thief in the Yoruba language. Shortly after the alarm, while everyone in my household was still trying to figure out what was happening, we heard multiple gunshots and witnessed some of our windows shatter to the floor. This incident elicited an impulsive reaction from us, as we abandoned our food and instinctively ran to the basement for safety.
The police quickly arrived at our neighbourhood after being alerted of the robbery
We hid there for what seemed like an indefinite amount of time until we heard sirens blaring all over the place, giving a hint of the arrival of the police. Exercising caution, my dad instructed us to wait a little longer before leaving the basement. After much anxiety and uncertainty, we left our hideout and were surprised to see the police searching our house to rescue potential victims of the robbers. After availing ourselves to assist the police in their investigations of the robbery, we spent an enormous amount of time expressing our gratitude to God for enabling us to avert the onslaught of the robbers.
The robbers got caught by the police eventually
Later that night, we were delighted to learn that our neighbours whom the robbers initially attacked were unharmed and had all their stolen valuables recovered by the police. We even felt much happier and more secure after the police successfully apprehended the robbers. Their response to the robbery was highly commended by the residents of our neighbourhood. Although this incident was a traumatic experience for me, as it was my first encounter with a life-threatening situation, I am grateful that my family and I emerged from it unscathed.
The end.
You can participate in neoxian city prompt hosted by momogrow here.
Thanks for reading,
Have a splendid day folks.
credit: click photo caption for image source.
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Sorry bro we all falls victim to one thing other we have a story to tell about it
Thank you for your words of comfort, Matthew. Fortunately for my family and I, we escaped being the victims of the robbers attack.
Thanks for reading.
That's great
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this is an interesting story, i thought you and your family would run out to help but then you said you went to hide in the basement which was hilarious lol, better to be safe sha
It was not possible for my family and me to go to the aid of our neighbours who were under a robbery attack, as the robbers, while chasing one of them, invaded our house and damaged our windows after firing multiple gunshots. Considering such circumstances, personal safety becomes a priority over everything else.
Thanks for taking the time to read and share your views on this post, my gee.
yea yea, just kidding, I and my family would do the same, no one should die for another cos at the end, they will say who send you
Hehe, my oga joke successfully parried! 😜
You have said it all my gee, wisdom is indeed profitable. "Who send you? ", nah really tough question to answer oh. Person go explain tire... yet, no evidence!
It is good that your family sought to protect themselves by going to the basement instead of being caught in the crossfire. It is sad that the homecoming celebrations attracted thieves. However, luckily no-one was harmed and the neighbours could retrieve their valuables.
Posted using Neoxian City
It was unfortunate that our neighbour's homecoming attracted the wrong group of people and almost endangered the lives of his family. Thankfully, the intervention of the police prevented a terrible outcome.
Regarding my family's reaction during the attack, I believe we responded naturally under those circumstances, as survival instantly becomes the primary objective.
Thanks for reading, neoxianprompts.
Once someone travels out and comes back successfully, evil eyes and minds follow suit. The fact that the robbers didn't see the main person they had come for, made them to be very violent with the family members.
I must say, it was smart of the family member who tried to escape but then again, that was a very big risk.
That was not a funny experience at all, one that can never be forgotten.
As Nigerians, we need to change our notion about individuals who have lived abroad and return home thereafter as being rich, as this is not often the case. This attitude is what makes some of us, particularly those with bad intentions, aim at extorting such individuals. Experience has shown that some of these returnees are not as affluent as most of us assume them to be.
Regarding the action of our neighbour's relative who tried to escape during the robbery attack, I believe he made that attempt because he realised that there was an opportunity to seek help that may lead to the rescue of his family. Regardless of the risk, I think he achieved that after alerting everyone about the presence of the robbers.
Like you said, the experience was not a pleasant one, especially for me, who before the incident, had never faced such a life-threatening situation.
Thank you for reading, Nkem.