Alayede

The polytechnic was brought to the community based on 
the relationship of one of their illustrious sons with 
the powers that be at that time!
Everybody knew who He was 
He was an industrialist who built a landmark estate
on top of a prominent hill in his hometown!
He was a captain of industries
One of his businesses got him in the same bed with the armed 
forces of the country
He supplied military camouflages and other uniforms!
Over the years his ties with the military grew
He understood their language and they understand his
Since they were the ones holding political power
at the time, he approached his contacts for a favour
He wanted an institution of higher learning to
be located in his home town!
Apart from putting the town on the national map
It will also facilitate development!
Students from far and near will attend the school
The commercial activities of his town will surge
He would have written his name on the sands of time
He pushed the proposal until it was approved
An annex of the state polythecnic, named after him
was situated in his home town!
It was a big win for his community
The local chief and the community gave a well-positioned
piece of land to the school
The administrative buildings were erected
And soon the lecturers resumed
One year after the building projects started
The school rolled out the drums for admission
Students started arriving at the community by the drove
Indegenes started creating spaces in their houses for the influx
they earned addictional income through the rent
they charged the students, sales of foodstuff and
other commercial activities
It was a win-win situation
The students come to get their diplomas
The community gets to earn extra money and gain relevance
But with the students came a strange problem
Cultism!
It was rumoured that months after the school took off
some cultists from certain factions, came to the school to 
recruit, blend and initiate students into their cults!
Cultism was the happening thing at the time
The mark of strength and relevance
The guys who belonged were popular, celebrated,
untouchable and treated like royalty!
The most beautiful girls on campus dated them
willingly, they really dont stress themselves
over lectures and lecturers because they have a long
arm and lecturers have learnt from experience to give
unto Caesar his due!
The problem with cultism was the clash of the factions!
Had it been it could be done like other usual clubs
do their things with the mindset of "Live and let live"
things would have been fine!
But cultists are territorial beings!
Each cult or confraternity wanted to be the principality, 
the dominion, the authority and the power!
For this reason, there was always one reason or the other to clash!
They clash over everything!
And when they clash, they kill, maim and destroy!
It was not unusual to hear running footsteps in the middle of 
the night, only to wake up and find dead bodies littering the
streets!
The community tried to engage the school authorities
What can be done to curb this menace?
Consultations were done, meetings were held, so much was done
But the killings persisted!
Dead bodies beside a well, on the road, at one area or the other
Sometimes the cultists will go on a killing spree claiming
they were retaliatory attacks
Bad blood continued to flow 
The more lives were taken, the more resolved the cultists were
to take more lives!
It was blood for blood all the way!
The killings were especially brutal whenever any of the cult
factions had a celebration or mourning!
Other cult members of the same cult from other institutions
would be invited to the school to carry out deadly operations
so that nobody would be able to identify those who did
the job if any other target survived or in case there
was an eye witness to the crime! 
Parents were scared of sending their children to school
To make matters worse, the cultists were bullies
If they see a student who does not belong to their cult
wearing a particular colour of clothing or a shoe they liked,
they would order such to take it off!
Resistance was a death sentence!
One of them might fancy a lady who was already with another
guy!
That would be the end of the relationship!
They were takers and anybody who dared to stand in their 
way would pay the ultimate price!
It was not as if he was unaware of these developments
when he decided to go and visit his babe in her school!
They had been dating for two years before she gained 
admission to the school and he really loved her!
That Friday he took off for her school in the 4 pm
He arrived there around 6pm
He noticed unusual activity as soon as he got to the town
Some students, all of them in black mafia suit were causing
a ruckus! He saw them shouting, singing beside the road,
drinking, smoking and being very unruly! 
He ignored the scene as soon as the motorcycle that 
carried him from the car-park went past them!
His girlfriend was outside her house eagerly waiting for him
He got to her house and settled down
It had been a while since he last saw her
Apart from the joy of seeing her
There was also a lot of carnal anticipation!
He did not travel all the way to her school to see her fine face
There was a certain gratification he longed for
The under the apple tree kind!
She was thrilled to see him
They hugged and talked
He brought her some stuff
He also brought her some money
They ate and he met some of her friends whom she had invited 
to meet her "Fiance"
He eagerly looked at the time, praying for the night to come
He really wanted to consummate the relationship
That was the whole point of his journey
8 PM
Sudden noise just outside his girlfriend's window
He looked outside
Four guys in black mafian suits bearing arms
were outside the wooden window! They had axes and guns
and were trying to force the window open!
Suddenly he heard a gunshot!
The person within the room shot blindly through the window
The bullet hit one of the guys in mafia suit
The guy fell on the floor and started jerking violently!
Within a minute, he was still!
The others intensified their efforts!
Shooting into the room blindly!
Suddenly there was another shout, the voice of a woman
Then the window was pulled open and an exchange 
of gunfire commenced
By this time, his heart was pounding mercilessly
He had managed to dodge behind the wall but he
couldn't close the window because it would expose him
His girlfriend was on her knees, quaking with fear
The gunfire exchange ceased!
The three living mafia suited guys left
They left behind three corpses
Their fellow mafia suited cultist,  the guy they came to attack
and an indigene (an elderly woman whose room the guy they 
wanted to kill ran into for safety)
Immediately they left, a young lady can into their compound
She knocked on their door and as soon as they opened the door
ran into the room!
She said she was the girlfriend of the guy who had just been killed
They were taking a stroll when her boyfriend spotted some
guys following them!
He ran immediately he noticed them and they pursued him until 
he ran into the house!
She hid somewhere waiting to see the outcome of the pursuit
Once she saw the three walking away, she knew her boyfriend 
had been killed
She was just scared of going home that night
She needed help and somewhere to sleep!
That was it!
The end of his "Consummation" agenda!
They all slept on the same bed
The next morning, the indigenes and the student union
 did a meeting and started arresting known cultists and strangers!
A curfew was declared and no student was allowed to leave the town
He stayed indoors throughout!
He was tired of the city and wanted to go home
But the town was hot and the indigenes have had enough!
That night, as he was trying to sleep, they came
The indigenes and students
They asked all the students to produce their identity cards
They did!
He was a stranger, from another school!
They concluded he was one of the cultists who came 
from another school for the cult "hit" operation
He tried to explain but as soon as he opened his mouth
Hands reached out to him from everywhere!
Blows and slaps and kicks of all types
Within a minute, he had blood all over him
They dragged him up and tied him
He was going to be burnt alive as had been done to other cultists!
He said "Jesus, please save me now, please save me"
Just as they got to the main road where he would be burnt
He was looking at the keg of petrol and tyres
An elderly man appeared from nowhere and screamed
"My son, my son, you want to kill my son!"
He didn't know the man from Adam
The man ran to him and hugged him
You want to kill my "Alayede" (literal meaning 
"The owner of the space has come")
The mob got jittery!
The Old man removed the ropes and said 
"You should have told them you are Baba Abiye's son
Nobody will dare touch you if you did!"
The mob moved on!
The old man took him back to his girlfriend's house and left
The next morning, the old man came to wake 
him up early in the morning and put him on a car
out of the town!
He said "Mo fun e ni iye, omo mi, mo fun e ni aye mi"
 "I give you life, my son, I gave you my life"
He got back to his school around 7 AM that morning!

PS: Several months later, when things had calmed down
He went back to the school to look for the old man
Nobody knew any Baba Abiye 
But the last words of the old man kept ringing in his ears
He fell on his knees and gave his life to Jesus
The one he called
The one who answered
The one who made a way out of the town for him
The one who gave him life, who gave him "his" life
This event happened in The Polytechnic Ibadan
Eruwa Campus (February 2000)