J-Town: A tale of the unknown

Our story begins in the streets of Jos, Plateau State, Nig…

“Ogbeni narrator, e don do you there! I go take am from here. So my name is Isaac and these are my friends, Musa and Daniel. Don’t mind Musa, he doesn’t know where he belongs with his name. I’ll explain along the way. So this is our story, three boys from the city of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.” said Isaac.

As the boys walk down the street, on their way to school, the noticed an unusual traffic that morning. It is not common to have traffic jams especially at rush hours, but this was something else. It seemed the cause of it was truck carrying goods fell further up the road.

Not being attentive to their surroundings, Isaac turned around, while walking backwards asked Musa if he had any idea what the truck was carrying.

“If it’s not cement, then probably it’s fuel. But the way people are not rushing to loot it, it’s definitely something not worth people’s time” Musa said.

“Or maybe sand. You never can tell” Daniel chipping in.

“Any ways, wetin concern agbero with cover shoe? Na dem wey dey use motor go work or school matter go choke for them. Us wey na leg-xus, any obstacle, we jump am pass” Isaac said.

And so the conversation continued like that, moving from one topic to another until the boys reached their school. In class, it was business as usual as everyone was seen in their best behavior, learning, answering questions and doing whatever task they were assigned to.

After school close, Isaac, Musa and Daniel were seen both heading back home, tired, exhausted and dull. It seemed like life has been taken from them.

“Wait o, this narrator know say we dey fit hear her at all? Which one come be life taken from them? Na your fada dem take life from! If you know say you no dey fear, comot come, if we no comot your teeth” angry Isaac said.

“Guy, just calm down. Allow her to do her job” said Daniel while trying to calm Isaac. “Please just skip to where we’re home. All these narrations are making us hungry. And please add lots of food and drinks while at it.”

Thank you, Daniel. Soon afterwards, the boys began to break as they all went their separate ways home. Being a hectic day, they wasted no time grabbing and fixing what to eat.

Hours past and Isaac is seen playing video game to pass time. Immersed in the game, suddenly he receives a notification on his phone. It was from Daniel and it read, “Guy show! I need show una something. Meet me for Zaramaganda junction.”

Isaac dashes out the house wearing a black hoodie to help with the cold. He stops a rickshaw and tell the rider his destination.

On reaching there, he links up with Musa. Using his eyes to search for Daniel, he ask Musa, “Where is Daniel? He asked us to come here and he’s not even here. Ba na son yawo banza fa!”

Musa replied, “Relax, he’ll be here. Maybe he’s already here and went to get something or maybe stuck in traffic. You know how it gets in the evening.”

Three minutes past and Daniel shows up. He told them how he came across something just 30 minutes ago around this area. He reminded them of the accident earlier that day and told them how he thinks he knows what the truck was carrying and he knows where some of the goods are being stored.

He described how the item was in a metal drum and glowing green. He also said he saw some men around the area all wearing mask and heavy clothings.

The boys out of curiosity followed Daniel to find out what the strange item was. On reaching the site, they snuck into the building as it was noisy with people shouting and yelling out commands.

They made their way to the back where they found a car with the trunk open full of the glowing substance. The boys stood there amazed at what it might be. Daniel curious as he may be, opened up a barrel and decided to touch it.

He didn’t feel any different, so he told Musa and Isaac that it was harmless, probably a glow in the dark material used on clothes and caps.

Seeing how it didn’t affect or hurt Daniel, they too decided to touch it. Indeed it was harmless.

“Quick, let’s take some with us. We’ll use it to make our own glow in the dark shirt” Isaac said.

They scooped some of the substance with them and hurried off. Making their way back home, they boys splitted, heading their separate ways, each excited about what they found and what they could use it to design, little did they know what is about to become of them.