Incident at the Five Cowrie Bridge

Lagos, the morning after the first military take over....

A soldier waving a rifle in the air above his head stopped my car on the Five Cowrie Bridge, opened the door on the passenger side and got into the seat.

"Take me to the Ikoyi camp!" he barked at me. I slammed on the gear and drove through the checkpoint barrier, turned right and headed for the Awolowo road to Ikoyi. Who was I to argue with a loaded (?) gun?

I was amazed that I was able to keep my cool and drove along without any difficulty with my heart pounding hard and sweat running down my face.

The Awolowo road was choked full of morning traffic. "Quick, Man, quick!" he yelled at me. waving his gun and pumping up and down on the seat. I put my thumb hard on the horn and overtook as many vehicles ahead of me as I could. Soon, I saw the Ikoyi Hotel looming up in the distance.

"Stop, stop here!" shouted my passenger. I pulled to the side of the road and he opened the car door, got out in a rush and slammed it shut. He melted away into a row of straw village huts.

I drove to the Ikoyi and got myself a stiff drink at the bar.