The rosary attached to the rear-view mirror swayed from side to side with every bump the 16-seater bus encountered. Gospel music blasted from the speakers in the bus with some of the passengers singing along to the familiar tune.

Her head was bent over the phone she was furiously typing away on. Thanks to the Wi-Fi, charging port and constant AC in the bus, it was easy to forget all about the map sized potholes that were known to plague this particular city in her country.

Slowly, the Peace Mass transit vehicle drifted to a halt, compelling the passengers to seize their off-key renditions. Some heads turned while others attention remained on the TV. She was amongst those whose interest was piqued by curiosity, her position by the window side offering her the perfect view of the outside world.

They were parked at a police checkpoint alongside a similar bus from the same transit company. The only differences between the two vehicles were in the plate numbers and the 0004 written on it; theirs was 0052.

On sighting the heavily armed policemen the passengers of bus 0052 subconsciously moved away from the windows, watching carefully behind the almost closed curtains.

The driver of bus 0004 was on his knees, hands raised up to the heavens and head bowed down as if in prayer. Passengers from his vehicle were crowded around him and a small number had their phones up, ready to record another episode of the Nigerian Police Brutality.

"Put those phones down. Now." One of the six officers barked, his gun pointed at the passengers that still held their phones up.

One by one they began to put their phones down, except for one man, who was dressed smartly in white collared shirt tucked neatly into plain black trousers with his feet clad in black brogues.

"You have no right to detain us. He has shown you all his particulars and I find it highly unjust for you to keep us here. I won't stop recording until you let us go." The man muttered confidently with a hint of a foreign accent; the phone still clutched in his hand.

The officers swivelled to look at each other and as if on cue, they all burst out in mirthless laughter. Their guns were still pointed at the passengers that were now being forced to their knees. The fear on their faces was palpable, an emotion the officers relished in.

"It's against the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act for you to demand any form of gratifications from law abiding citizens and I refuse to be a part of it." The man continued, still standing and unfazed by the actions of the policemen.

Ignoring the man, police officer one sauntered to the driver side of bus 0052, knocking on the window till the driver wounded it down.

"Oga, begin dey go." He disregarded the folded naira notes the bus driver tried to sneak into his hands, hitting the side of the bus repeatedly with a strength that could be compared to that of Samson.

It was a poor attempt at rescuing his colleague from the unspoken horrors that were certain to befall him or the stubborn passenger.

On sensing the driver's reluctance, police officer two joined officer one and together, they began to hit the body of the vehicle causing the passengers to jump in their seats.

Murmurs soon filled the thick air in the bus, followed by pleas from the passengers for their driver to move ahead.

"You dey form say you know the law, abi?" It was directed to the confident man, the threat in the policeman's voice was unmistakable and it sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Simultaneously, the passengers began to speak.

"Driver go abeg."

"Driver please, just go."

"I have children at home oo."

One shot.

That was all it took for the driver of bus 0052 to step on the accelerator, speeding off like a thief on the run, all concerns for the commuters on the ground gone with the billows of the wind.

They covered a few kilometers' journey before he finally slowed down to the normal speed limit. His forehead shone with sweat and his eyes filled with guilt for fleeing. The passengers began to chatter amongst themselves, no one was willing to mention the incident they left behind.

With shaky hands, the lady seated close to the window unlocked her phone, her slim fingers tapping on the camera icon for it to display the video she managed to record. She blinked back tears from grey coloured orbs when the images on the screen came to life.

The confident man could be seen lowering the hand with his phone down, perhaps after coming to a consensus with the policemen. She couldn't make out his words but could sense his frustration with the wild gestures he kept making with his arms.

His attention combined with the rest of the passengers was solely on the men he was having a heated conversation with, index finger pointed accusatively at them. The man must have said something that irritated officer one because he swung his gun sharply at him, eventually pulling the trigger on the weapon that ended the man's life.

All of these happened in less than three minutes but it felt like ages. The next few scenes that played out were images of the passengers as they were lined up into bus 0004, all of them compliant, no one amongst them ready to be the next scapegoat.

She had always heard of policemen's careless killing but never witnessed it until now. The video came to an end and she shut her eyes, hoping to put the unfortunate occurrence behind her. Her brains had other plans though, continuously the images played behind her closed eyelids until she fell into a dreamless sleep.

*****

Picture: An event that influenced this prologue.

Questions:
• Who's at fault?
• What would you do if you were in her shoes?

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Regular updates by January, 2020.

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