The Man From Lagos Read online

The trip to Apapa took longer than expected. Traffic was extremely bad today due to an overturned tanker that was blocking two lanes on the A1 just before Teslim Balogun Stadium. It took almost an hour to clear the wreckage enough for cars to get past. The alternative route of taking Expressway1/Lagos/E1 would have taken twice as long. That whole area was under construction and down to one lane. No one could say when they would finish. So went the business of road construction in Nigeria—mysterious, unlike the well-announced plans in the States and Europe. Here, you would suffer for years and then wake up one morning and find that they had finished and everything was back to order. People joked that road crews hid their equipment in bushes so that when everyone goes to sleep, they moved it suddenly onto the roads so it would surprise everyone in the morning. Foolish tales.

  “ETA twenty-nine minutes,” Femi murmured. “Google Maps says it is so.”

  Sade tried to laugh. After two grueling hours, they arrived at the warehouse and she immediately noticed the security changes Femi had made. There were now four guards manning the solid-wall gate with no slats like the old gate. This time, the first guard came out while the other three stayed behind. The gate was locked and bolted behind the first one who walked slowly over to the driver’s side. He was cautious. His eyes were constantly scanning around the car and also the main street that led to the main road. They were not taking any chances.

  Once Femi and Sade were finally let in, one of the guards followed behind the car until it was parked. Tabitha, the manager on duty, received Sade. She was a forty-year-old former vulcanizer who Baba met by accident ten years ago. The story was that Baba was traveling home one night when he had a punctured tire and the driver had to park the car on the side of the road. A backup car coming from the estate, but it would take hours in the middle of the night. Tabitha happened to be coming home from a long day at work when she came upon the scene. She offered her help and said she could fix it for five hundred naira. Baba was skeptical as he didn’t know of any woman who knew how to fix a flat tire. But after explaining how she would fix it, Baba wagered that it was better to let her try than to continue waiting for the backup. He told her to go ahead and take her time, thinking to himself that he would have a good laugh when she gave up.

  Tabitha said, “I have to take the tire off and roll it back to my shop around the corner. All my tools and equipment are there for me to fix it, sir,” she added.

  Now Baba was getting skeptical and suspicious. He asked the driver to follow her while he remained by the car. Lo and behold, twenty minutes later, he could see her and the driver approaching. She was rolling the tire which looked fixed and ready to be put back onto the car. She put the tire back on, lowered the car just a few inches, stepped on the bolt wrench to tighten the bolts even more and then let the rest of the car down and placed the jack and wrench back in the boot.

  Baba had not only given her five hundred naira for fixing the tire, but he also gave her an additional five thousand naira and offered her a job. That was ten years ago.

  *

  Sade could see the pain and hurt on each of the worker’s faces as she paid her visit to Tabitha’s factory. Losing a colleague is never easy. Losing someone you had worked with for many years and knowing everything about their family’s needs—and subsequent suffering—was even more painful. All who worked for Baba were very loyal and trusted. He always made sure that they were paid very well, and whenever he heard about their kids needing something, or if someone was making trouble for any of them, Baba always instructed Femi to take care of it. He wanted their lives to go well—which made these murders especially hard on everyone.

  Oya Obago was only twenty-three and the first to die inside the warehouse that day. His family was from Cross River state. His father was a taxi driver and his mother was a seamstress. His father moved the whole family of four to Lekki before it was a bustling city with high-end homes. Oya’s father wanted his kids to have a better future, as he had never found meaningful work after being falsely accused of theft. Oya, who was his father’s eldest child, vowed to clear his father’s name. Oya couldn’t afford to attend the university, so he found odd jobs here and there until his best mate told him to look for meaningful work fixing cars. That was how he ended up at Baba’s company as a mechanic. Oya was survived by a girlfriend whom he planned to marry when he saved up enough for the wedding and a house.

  Suya Mingo was all of forty-two and never married. His death was very hard on everyone, as he was the kindest of all—he would never hurt a fly. Suya went out of his way to make people laugh and be happy. He performed odd jobs around the factory—pulling parts, filling windshield washer fluid in cars, or sweeping up at the end of the night. He was fun to have around as he was prone to distracting the workers with his stories of adventures as a young boy in South Africa. No one ever asked him if all these stories were true, and now they would never know.

  Muyiwa Fanga had been thirty-six. His death was by accident—he was standing close to Suya when the bullet that killed Suya also struck Muyiwa. He was a burly man with short, graying hair, and he mostly worked on tire changes and repairs. As a matter of ritual, he made sure to say hello to everyone each day: a full-throated, “Goooood morning!” echoing through the building as he made his way to the kitchen area to make his tea. He drank it with his three pieces of Akara, but was never late to his station. Not even one minute late.

  After someone said a prayer for the friends they had lost, Sade met with each one of the workers in a side office to ask what happened that early morning. Their stories and recollections were still pretty much the same. These were good people who cared about their jobs and wouldn’t in a million years take advantage of the opportunity that Baba gave each one of them. Yet something in her notes was bothering her, and she would look at it on the drive home.

  After four hours of interviews, Sade spoke to Tabitha one last time before departing. As the car made its way through traffic, she reviewed all her interviews. Sade was trying to find a thread to pull. All the workers were in different areas of the warehouse when the trouble started. Each gunshot sound brought people to check on the sound, which allowed the invaders to gather them together. Three of them were dispatched to check all rooms and find anyone hiding. The ringleader seemed to know how many people should be there and kept counting and re-counting. He would yell out how many people were still missing.

  “We are still missing three people O’,” the ringleader yelled out. “You better come out wherever you are hiding. If I have to come and find you, it will be serious for you O’.”

  Tabitha had provided Sade very detailed accounts of the events. She conveyed that she was powerless to stop them from killing three of her workers that night. One of them even hit her on the side of her stomach with his closed fist the first time she tried to protest. The odd thing that Sade still remembered everyone saying was that they did not need to kill anyone. Everyone cooperated and no one made a fuss or tried to overpower them. The three killed seemed to be a message. That was what frustrated and vexed Sade.

  Why did they have to die? Why not take what you came for and make your way? Sade vowed to figure out the pattern behind these three deaths.

  Chapter 19

  Singapore Calling

  Baba hadn’t left the house for a week. His last call today was to his good friend in Singapore. Mr. Vue had indeed received his funds through his Grand Cayman account. It wasn’t ideal, but he understood the situation and was more concerned about the warehouse breach than the money. His last comment before the end of their call was to caution Baba to be careful. He didn’t want to lose his friend and even offered to fly out additional men to add to his current security team.

  “They can be there in thirteen hours if needed,” he offered. “All you ever need to do is say the word.”

  Baba thanked him again but declined his offer. He had more than enough men to see to his safety. They moved on and talked more about their families and other things not business-rela
ted.

  Mr. Vue could always tell during their talks that it hurt for Baba to talk about his family. He truly missed his son, whom he last saw when he was a very young boy. He used to speak as if his son were in the next room. Not too many people knew of his family in America, lest they use them against him. He would always say that he didn’t know where his first wife was, as she never wrote or called to tell him about his son. No matter how much he cared, he kept his distance for safety reasons. His enemies would find some way of using it against him, and he didn’t want any harm to come their way because of his own entanglements.

  The maid came in with his lunch tray. She was surprised to see that he hadn’t even eaten his breakfast but only taken tea. She put the lunch tray down and picked up the tray of uneaten eggs, toast, jam, and a banana. She would be back with a pot of newly brewed tea, as that seemed to be the only thing, he cared for today.

  “Are Femi or Sade around?” he grumbled.

  “No, sir,” came her reply. “They both left early this morning and haven’t been back since.”

  Baba just mumbled something more under his breath as Kemi made her way out of the room and shut the door. Baba was alone. He’d had business deals go bad before, but not like this. This Apapa problem worried him. All he could ask himself was why now? Who was after him? He decided to call a meeting with the council to brief them on what happened and ask some questions. Maybe one of them had a problem, and instead of coming to him to sort it out, they decided to move against him. It was time to get some answers.

  Chapter 20

  You Know What Happened

  Femi had been quietly charged with looking into Baba’s council partners. Baba handled the council’s off-the-books money. They had agreed when they formed that he was the banker, given his numerous contacts from his investment banking days.

  The agreement was that each council member would set up their individual offshore accounts. There would be publicly declared monies and there would be private monies. Baba took ten percent of all the money that he moved each month, a process eased by his extensive network and infrastructure. Moving anything out of the country was easy for him. Some had grumbled here and there at his high fee, but eventually calmed down when they realized that he was honest; and without his service, they’d be vulnerable to theft or mismanagement. Baba was the best, and they all knew it.

  Part of the money stolen from the warehouse was theirs. They knew it wasn’t Baba who’d stolen it and hidden it behind a flimsy theft story. He had enough money himself and didn’t need their millions. Over the years, he’d had plenty of chances to steal their money; this was the first breach. Hopefully the last.

  The day of the meeting came. The council all assembled in a nondescript building in Ikoyi. They had been meeting here every first Friday of the month since the group was formed. The agenda was the same at each meeting. Balance sheets, new business, confirmation that everyone received their share of profits (which of course were deposited into each person’s offshore bank of choice). But today, Baba wanted to find out if any of the members knew of the warehouse breach and wanted to see their reactions when he shared the story.

  After the meeting was called to order, Baba said, “I’m sure you all heard of the breach at the Apapa warehouse?”

  Everyone shook their heads in surprise and concern.

  “Three people died and a large amount of currency was taken by the perpetrators,” Baba said.

  Chioma, the dapper real estate mogul, interrupted to ask what the total loss was. He didn’t care about the workers.

  Baba shot him an angry look. “I’ll get to that. Let me finish please.”

  As he recapped the full details of that night, Baba simultaneously scanned the faces of his partners. Sade, who was sitting in her usual position to his right, did the same—just more discreetly. The green light to attack the warehouse could have come from someone in this room. They all had a history with Baba, but Sade didn’t trust a single one of them. Everyone had an agenda, and at some point, that agenda superseded friendship and business interests. It was as predictable as the full moon.

  After Baba finished, Mama Kojo spoke up. “What can we do to find these perpetrators? I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of life.” A look of worry crossed her face as she glanced at Dada.

  Baba might not have noticed it, but Sade did. Her suspicions might be correct. She would find out soon enough. Baba said, “I am taking care of it. Once I find out more information or we catch the people who did this, I will report back to the group.”

  They agreed to meet again at the end of the month to receive another full update. They all offered again to help, but Baba declined. He did not need their help.

  “But there is one more thing you should know,” he said. “I’m planning to retire and will be handing over my seat to my daughter Sade.”

  The room fell silent. Those who had stood up and were already walking toward the door gingerly returned to the conference table and sat back down.

  “Retire? What?” Kumari, the oil baron, responded.

  “Peters, you can’t do this. Not at this time,” bellowed Dada.

  Chioma was quiet and distraught as he processed what Baba just told the group. He finally spoke. “Are you okay? How is your health?”

  Baba said, “No, nothing is wrong with me. It’s just time to go and rest. I’ve lived a good life, and it’s time to pass my businesses on to Sade.”

  All eyes shifted to Sade. No one was trying to change Baba’s mind at this point, and she felt the energy in the room change. They knew her very well; she had been coming to their monthly gatherings since returning from school in London. They knew her to be smart and capable, but didn’t believe that at such a young age, she could step into her father’s shoes so quickly. What they didn’t tell Baba and Sade was that their time was coming to an end soon. They couldn’t afford to have Baba find out who was responsible. His security staff was even more capable than they thought, and his employees too loyal. Mama Kojo was going to have to find out what was taking so long with their plan to take them out. As they left the conference room, they all had last words with Baba. Each one, of course, expressed their sadness at losing one of their own but understood that every one of them will eventually have to make that same decision to walk away for a quiet life one day. No one went over to congratulate Sade on the news. Sade took note of this. So did Baba.

  Chapter 21

  On the Trail

  Femi met Sade in Victoria Island at a restaurant called The Quiet House. It was located off Marin Drive close to some high-end hotels and oil company offices. This was Sade’s favorite place to rest and unwind. The restaurant was broken up into eight spaces that catered to your mood of the day. Sade preferred the Blue Room. It was quiet and offered a secluded space for intimate conversations without prying ears listening in.

  Femi walked in to find Sade tipping a glass of Veuve Clicquot to her lips. He ordered a cognac as he took his seat; the service was top-class here, and discreet.

  He dispensed with the customary small talk and jumped right into his update. Kwesi and Niyi had been managing different parts of the investigation. Kwesi focused on the workers at the site, looking for any changes of behavior or any noticeable life changes for each one of them. Did anyone buy a new car or was suddenly flush with money? Most people who come into sudden wealth had trouble holding onto it for very long. Yet there was nothing out of the ordinary with any one of them, except for the sadness they discussed at work and carried home with them at night. Both Femi and Kwesi were pleased that none of them had betrayed Baba; and Sade wasn’t surprised, either. She had vetted them all.

  Femi then moved to Niyi’s report. Niyi looked into the breach and the security footage. His report showed that six men arrived in three cars, each five minutes apart from one another. The had parked near the warehouse on Creek Road facing east along their escape route. They had most likely scouted the location, because the breach didn’t start until one of the gu
ards left his partner at the gate while he relieved himself. They waited until the first guard came back before they made their move on both of them. Two men fired on them through the gate slats: a design flaw that has since been corrected. Once both guards were dead, the others waiting in the cars moved toward the gate. Together, the six men descended on the warehouse. They split up two by two and cleared the exterior, moving as if they already knew the grounds. After about five minutes, they all regrouped. They were careful to avoid the security cameras by the door; all Niyi had was grainy camera footage of the leader giving out instructions with hand signals and whispering into the ears of his men. Two men were dispatched back to the front of the gate in case anyone arrived unexpectedly and raised an alarm. Two men stayed outside the open side door, and the ringleader and another man snuck in undetected.

  Femi paused and reassured Sade that this gap had already been addressed. One of his changes after the breach was to discontinue the practice of leaving that side door open. He knew the workers used it for air circulation during hot nights, so he upgraded the air conditioning and made sure to add additional industrial fans that could help with the air circulation.

  He returned to his report. Once the two men were inside, it didn’t take them long to encounter workers and make their presence known. They made their demands. Once the currency room was open, one of the infiltrators waved the other two to join them inside. One took up a post outside the room while the others stuffed bags and bags full of currency. When the room had been fully looted, they emerged with six huge duffel bags filled with Baba’s money. When they were done, three of them carried two duffel bags each and exited by the side door; these ones did not return. The last man then said something to the group of workers, who were standing there in disbelief. He lifted his gun and shot Oya point blank. When Suya started to protest, the man turned his weapon toward Suya and shot him dead. Muyiwa was standing behind him and died by the bullet that went through Suya. Both men fell together.