number of other Nigerian States and even though I sometimes find myself in some sane and tranquil communities, I always miss the madness of the never sleeping Lagos.
One thing, however, I do not miss about Lagos is the constant harassment and assault on its streets. I had wanted to save this piece for another time but recent events have maddened my pen to point of harassing my notepad.
My grandmother always says that “it is
where you store salt that it remains even if it turns into water”
meaning do not put your self in situations that could put you in
trouble, be at the right place at the right time and do not overstep
boundaries. Honestly, over the years this hasn’t worked for me in Lagos
because it is where you put the salt the cockroach will come and harass
it.
As a little girl, I loved following my
aunties to the market because of the idea of having the opportunity to
window shop and get free stuff from them. One thing that used to, and
still puts me off is the yanking, grabbing and dragging by our
Industrious Ibo brothers, the forex trade Hausa guys and recently some
“Aunty come and make your hair” girls. They grab your arm like they have
a right to, and pull you. Some caress the hand or brush against you in a
suggestive manner and if you ever protest against them they hurl curses
at you or even beat you up (I have witnessed such a scene at Yaba
market before). Women are victims of this 99% of the time.
As I grew older, I decided that if they
weren’t ready to stop assaulting me I needed to find a way to make them
flee from me. The last straw that broke the camels back was when at the
market one day, I protested against one of the guys who pushed me onto
the main road such that I was nearly hit by a car simply because I told
him not to touch me with his filthy hands. One of my slippers came off
and he picked it up and threw it into the middle of the market and ran
away shouting “God punish your mama”. It was an eye opener for me o.
Ever since then I started going to market with a WEAPON. The kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force. I now
carry safety pins to the market so when any of them grabs my arm, I
prick them. I have since enjoyed an 80% assault free shopping experience
and I always throw the pins away at the end of each visit for fear of
contracting HIV/AIDS. (DISCLAIMER: If you try it and get beat up you are
on your own o!)
Another instance and the most annoying
one is being sexually assaulted by merely walking on the streets. I
remember one incident that happened when I was 13. I was trying to cross
over to the other side of the road to buy roasted plantain a.k.a Boli
when suddenly a man riding on a motorcycle grabbed my breasts and sped
off. I was so mad. I cried till my tear glands went empty because I
didn’t even see his face or get the number on his number plate so even
if I reported, no one could arrest some one they couldn’t identify.
Also, a friend once told me how that a lunatic on the loose grabbed her
breasts on a major road in Lagos. Well, that one is on another level.
Lol. But some seemingly sane guys just tap women on their buttocks on
the streets of Lagos and run away. it is a very annoying experience
trust me and something needs to be done fundamentally.
The last experience I want to narrate is
the reason I’m writing this post at this time. So, yesterday I was in a
very busy part of Lagos walking in some direction to sort some official
business when some meters ahead of me I saw this guy who pushed a young
lady in front of a moving vehicle. She fell hard and was shouting
“catch him, catch him!” . Then the guy ran towards me, gave me a punch
in my neck, gave the lady behind me a knock on her head, slapped another
lady and on and on. He just kept running and assaulting any woman in
sight. Some of the women started running after him. I don’t know if they
caught up with him but I went ahead to help the first victim as she was
seriously bruised. She didn’t know him from Adam just like me. I prayed
in tongues for a few minutes as I walked the lady to stability just to
make sure it wasn’t someone trying to turn people into money for
Christmas spending. People around the scene were just minding their
businesses, it was a shocking realistic picture. What can we do about
this madness?
He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.
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