The Wheelbarrow Pusher Episode Three
Sarafina and her boyfriend were scared that they would be arrested. They looked at each other after realizing that they have been recognized and that they will soon be on their way to meet Sarafina’s father. The immigration officer who identified Sarafina was already standing up and alerting other officers in the office and letting them know they had made a big catch. He called one of the officers and directed him to get Sarafina and her boyfriend arrested. He also called another officer to prepare a van so they can drive them to Chief Eloka’s house.
“Get these two people arrested. This is Sarafina Eloka, the daughter of rich industrialist, Chief Eloka. She has been missing for so many days now and she has just delivered herself into our hands. Let us take her to her father. I’m sure he is going to reward us greatly for helping him find his missing daughter. Arrest this man too. I’m sure he was the one who kidnapped Sarafina even when he knew his wedding date was very close. Get them arrested let’s move it immediately, no delay.” The immigration officer said. He suspended the request for passport which Sarafina had made on behalf of the wheelbarrow pusher.
“I told her this was a mistake. I wonder why she decided that we should basically deliver ourselves into the hands of security agencies. I knew that by now, her face would have been everywhere in the media and security agencies would easily spot her out for arrest. If I had known, I would have rejected the idea of us travelling abroad. Now, they will arrest us and her parents would likely jail me and accuse me of being a kidnapper, meanwhile, I’m just a poor lover boy.” The wheelbarrow pusher said in his heart. He was deeply troubled after he saw that the immigration officials were preparing to arrest them.
However, Sarafina was not ready to give up just so easily. She was not going to allow herself to be arrested like a common criminal when she has committed no crimes at all. In her heart, she was sure of her innocence, so she was going to use all the powers she has to fight and resist arrest. She quickly thought within her mind and came up with a strategy she was going to use to escape from the immigration station.
“I want to speak to your boss. I know I should be arrested and taken to my parents, but remember, I was the one who walked into your station. If I was running or missing, I would not have come here by myself. If I was hiding, I would have remained wherever I was without showing my face to you. I came here because I wanted to. I will allow you arrest me on one condition: I want to see your overall boss and speak to him before you people will take me to my father.” Sarafina said confidently. She was looking directly into the eyes of the immigration officer who had paused what he was doing to listen to her.
“You cannot order me around. You are not the boss here. You are also not in charge here. You are not the one to tell me what to do. I’m the one in charge, so I’m the one to give you instructions. So, young lady, don’t even attempt to resist arrest. If you do, you will worsen the situation. Just stretch your hands and take handcuff without protest.” The immigration officer said but Sarafina merely smiled. She came prepared. She was expecting this kind of resistance.
Sarafina reached for her handbag which contained thousands of dollars. She had gone to change some naira to dollars before she came to visit her boyfriend some days ago. She has so much dollars. She brought out $500 and gave it to the immigration officer. That was more than his salary for three months. When the officer saw the money, he just smiled and told the other officers to go back to their duty post. They understood and left.
“You should have told me you brought kola for us. If you had told me since, I would not have delayed you. I was delaying you because I did not see kola. Now that you have shown me that you did not come empty-handed, I will take you to see my boss. Please, step inside. Also, your man can stay here with me and fill the form for the passport. I will help him.” The immigration officer said happily. He collected the $500 and put it in his shirt pocket.
The immigration officer then took Sarafina to the office of the overall boss at the immigration station. The man immediately recognized who Sarafina was.
“I recognize you. I just saw your face on TV. They said you are missing. Is that true? I can’t believe that a daughter of a billionaire like you would just go missing. Sit down. I want to hear the story of what happened. You can be rest assured that we are not going to arrest you. I’m curious, what happened to you?” The man said. The man was matured and by Sarafina’s estimation, he might be in his 50s. He sounded very reasonable.
“Thank you sir. Sir, please, I want to talk to you as if I’m your own daughter. Thank you for accepting to listen to me. This is the first time an elderly person would want to listen to me. My parents never listen to me. They just force things on me. It is as if God wants to use you to help me out.” Sarafina said. The office was air-conditioned and she loved it because she was sweating.
“What is the matter? Were you kidnapped?” The immigration boss, whose name is Abam said.
“No! I was the one who ran away. I did not want to get married to the man chosen for me by my parents. You must have heard about the upcoming wedding, right? The truth is that I have my own boyfriend. I don’t want the man chosen for me. I want to marry my boyfriend, but I know my parents will reject him because he is poor. I need your help. I want to run away with my boyfriend. I want us to move to the US and get married there. He needs a passport as urgently as possible.” Sarafina said pleadingly. She was crying and Officer Abam pitied her.
“Ah! No wonder! But your parents will deal with me if I do what you are asking. You know how powerful and connected they are. I cannot risk losing my job. I understand your situation, but what you are asking for is hard.” Officer Abam said. Sarafina simply reached for her handbag and produced $3000 and squeezed it into Officer Abam’s hand. Immediately, he called a subordinate and issued instructions.
“Fast track the passport application for Sarafina’s boyfriend. Make it happen in two days.” Officer Abam said.
“Okay sir.” The subordinate responded.
“Don’t worry Sarafina. We will even deliver the passport to you wherever you want.” Officer Abam said. Soon, she and the wheelbarrow pusher left the immigration office in happiness. But when they got to the roadside where they were waiting for an Uber to pick them up, a police van pulled up beside them.
“Are you not Chief Eloka’s daughter? Stop there. Don’t move.” One of the policemen said.
Watch out for episode 4
