CHAPTER 9
Doctor’s despondency
It was already a concluded issue for Dr Agbabiaka and he knew he would not be turning in his research results especially since it was now clear it would serve more political purposes than medical ones. Two days after refusing to visit the former minister of health, the stupid man had in an attempt to win some political weight and support mentioned in a campaign fundraiser that his pharmaceutical company developed a secret chemical that fought all manner of diseases known to man and could even heal sickle cells in the blood stream. Sickle cell anaemia had no cure and it was hopeless trying to cure it because it was predominantly a ‘blacks only’ disease and it didn’t have the publicity and funding that HIV/AIDS has. He had hinted that if voted into power, he would supply the much needed funds to help the production of this powerful compound into drugs that would possibly be used to combat any disease that affected the populace. The fundraiser had been a secret affair but who said he wouldn’t be saying this same statements to the press in a couple of weeks if given the results of the research. Agbabiaka however needed not wait for a couple of weeks because immediately after the event, Gbolabo had hinted the press that there was a major scientific trump card that will swing the votes and hearts of people to him. Agbabiaka knew instinctively that he was in trouble and he had packed his publications and absconded. An hour later, he got the news that his study in his Ibadan home had been broken into though his wife and children were safe and unharmed. He had secretly lodged in to a cheap motel in molete from where he listened to the news and contacted his wife via e-mail. He never told her his location. After another two days, he heard that his office at the University of Ibadan had been burgled and no item was stolen except a couple of books he had written and published four years back. He then knew that Gbolabo was after him and just this afternoon, he had decided to meet with the Professor whom the bodyguard had directed him to but he had to secretly check him out and be sure that the man was not just bait for him to swallow. He tailed the man all day and watched his movements and he seemed like an old gentleman enjoying the company of his grandson except that he had appeared this evening at dinner in Premier Hotel with another old gentleman who was quite popular on TV. A children’s story teller called Jimi Alalo. That proved he was a harmless gentleman who could offer him refuge and maybe a large audience on TV whenever his life gets threatened. The time was now 9:15pm and he had just placed a call through to the old gentleman professor to let him know that he would be joining him on campus later that night but he just decided to communicate with his wife through his e-mail. He brought out his mobile phone and activated the e-mail service but the first mail he received sent cold shivers down his spine. It was from Gbolabo and it read:
Dear Scientist,
I wonder how it was hard for you to figure it out that I will have no choice than to kidnap your family and have them silently killed one by one till I get those papers. My political opponents are all after me and very soon some snoopy journalist will want my company to substantiate my claims. I now also have the addresses of all who worked for you on that research. Just keep hiding.
The man had carefully chosen his words in the letter and he had not used his publicly recognized e-mail address. He knew his family would be kidnapped but he didn’t know when. He was lost in his thoughts and didn’t know how to tell his wife to leave with the kids immediately; they were probably being watched now. His thoughts tormented him and told him he was a bad father and he shouldn’t have left home in the first place. He wondered at the callousness of the former minister of health and presidential candidate whom everybody was giving their trust to and to consider that he had not even told Gbolabo of the possibility of a genetic breakdown for users of this compound in his research thereby making it rather unsafe for indiscriminate administration on patients and also making it a possible weapon that could be used to alter an enemy’s genetic mix thereby sending generations into a living hell on earth before they were born. He still became surer that he wouldn’t be handing over the results of his research and wouldn’t publicize it until there was a specific way of knowing the right dosage to be administered to each patient. He looked up absently at the time on the digital wall clock. It read 9:45 pm and now he knew he had to get going if he was to reach the University campus before 10:30pm when all vehicles will be barred from entering the University gates except they were registered in the name of a staff member, student or a known organization working within the campus. He made his way to the motel’s receptionist desk and said he’ll be back in a short while. This was to exempt him from the rule which said that all residents should submit keys to their rooms before walking out of the premises. The receptionist, a young fair-skinned girl obviously in her early twenties and with two tribal marks on either cheek quickly understood him and simply accepted a tip instead of the room key. As he made his way from the receptionist’s table, he glanced briefly at the TV where the news anchor for the evening was just reporting the apparent kidnap of an Ondo monarch by unarmed men who simply abducted the old man from his hotel room somewhere in Lagos where he was on holiday. They had simply marched him out of the hotel premises like a friend. The news made Dr Agbabiaka think about how easy it was to kidnap a monarch from a 5-star hotel in Lagos and how much more it’d be easier to kidnap his family from a simple 3-bedroom bungalow in the streets of Ibadan but he kept moving.
It was 9:55pm and officer had just called Alhaji Kosoko to give him the details of their location with the kidnapped Ondo king. Alhaji was relieved especially since the duo that monitored Gbolabo had given no details about any visits or phone calls to Gbolabo. Obviously, Gbolabo was a tricky person to deal with and the Ondo man was less conversant with the depth of dirtiness in politics and how quickly news can spread. He wasn’t a politician anyway, just a traditional ruler. However, there’s been no news from Avery, she was really mad at him but this wasn’t the time to allow judgement becloud her reasoning. He wished he could make her happy immediately because she truly deserved it but is it not true that sometimes a reward could be a curse just like the man who had carried the golden casket that was supposed to be his reward for enduring the journey into the forest of a thousand daemons. Avery had endured this journey but the reward she now demanded may be too much for her to bear. At this point, the hostess of the night talk show simply showed up beside Alhaji and asked for the umpteenth time we’re getting on air, sir, are you ready sir? Yes. The clock in the studio chimed 10:00 pm and the show started.