The wind blew and I shivered
Seeking a veil for my vulnerability
The wind blew my cover away
And naked to harsh reality
I could neither beat nor dodge
I bowed inwards, unconsciously
To the One who rules the wind:
The One who commands and it bows.
If you have gone through situations that exposed you to evil, you will understand that evil is hateful. It is so dreadful you don’t want to encounter it in any way. Any wonder we pray, “Deliver us from evil . . . .” I share in this story, one of a couple of life changing encounters I have had with evil, in hope that your faith in the God, who began this great work in us, would be boosted.
It was a Saturday that started out as usual – no drama and no dilemma. I was scheduled to attend a party the next day being Sunday. I had spent the cash at hand that day buying and wrapping gifts ahead of the party. I also acquired about 50 novels and couldn’t wait to dig in. The early part of the night was vested into rearranging and expanding the library to contain my latest acquisitions, and also setting out clothes for Sunday’s event. As soon as I put those chores behind me, I got my sleeping materials from the room, ambitiously selected some choice books, and settled on the couch in the sitting room for novels marathon.
I was home alone, chilling on the couch for the night. We lived in a reserved area that, apart from the noise from vehicles passing by, is typically a quiet estate. Prior to then, I have not slept in the sitting room. I guess I didn’t intend to sleep that night which happens when I am hooked on a spell-binding series. I wanted to chill close to my latest collection so I wouldn’t have to travel back and forth between my room and the library if my reading speed or taste changed in the course of the night. Whatever happened, I was ready for an all-night experience with my books.
After a while, I heard unusual noise around the house. It wasn’t anything unusually loud but it was enough to catch my attention. This was around 10pm. I got off the couch, strolled to one of the sitting room windows and peered outside, in the direction of the noise. There was nothing strange about so I returned to the couch and settled back to my reading. The noise persisted.
I still cannot recall what to relate the sound of that disturbance to but it was not part of the familiar environment and time. I got up and did something really weird: I turned off the lights and returned to the couch to read with the torch on my mobile phone. Thinking back now, that was strange. Why did I do that? It is hard to tell. It doesn’t make sense to turn off the main light so as to read with a mobile phone torch, not even a reading lamp. Until today, I still cannot explain why I did that.
Much later, I heard shouts from the house across. I got up and looked out again. This time, I noticed that the windows, burglary protectors, blinds, and mosquito nets of the house have been taken down. That was absurd. What could have happened? I could see right into the house because the lights were on and there was no sign of movement. I was puzzled. How and when were those taken out considering the time? And for what purpose?
I recalled seeing everything in place when I returned that evening and when I checked not long ago. Something must be wrong. I started searching for my phone. I have terrible phone habits: most times, I don’t know where it is. It will lie forgotten somewhere until the battery dies. And it is set mainly on silent and sometimes on vibrate. It never rings out so even with the battery alive, I have trouble finding it. I would leave the office having not seen it all day, assuming I forgot it at home only to conclude at home when I can’t find it anywhere, that it must be in the office.
Well, on this fateful night, the faithful phone was around. That was when it dawned that I was reading with it a while back. Unconsciously, I had left it in between the pages of the book I was reading. I returned to the couch, where the forgotten book lay lamely, to retrieve the phone. I tried to call a neighbor that lived at the end of the facility but the call failed.
I could no longer relax. It was obvious something was wrong though I couldn’t tell what exactly that was. I stood by my window, observing the surroundings. There was not a sign of any movement whatsoever. Shielded by the window blind and the darkness of the sitting room, I stood there watching and pondering what could be going on in my neighbor’s house. Then I heard a gunshot, followed by another. The sound emanated from outside the compound, in the direction of the access gate.
Suddenly, the earlier quietness was disrupted by continuous gun shots as about a dozen young men, with guns slung over their shoulders, shot as they jumped out through my neighbor’s windows. It was like a movie. They had been inside the house all the while I observed. Upset by the earlier shot, they were all jumping out of the house, shooting in every direction. I ran into my bedroom, seeking for a secure place to hide and to call security without attracting attention to myself because it felt like the whole facility was crawling with robbers. I called my company’s security and it took eternity to communicate my location.
When the call receiver managed to get my location, because I was trying to speak as low as possible in order not to attract attention, he redirected me to call another number. That was appalling, especially since I already related that it was a case of armed robbery. I called the second number and the receiver promised to dispatch help immediately.
Thereafter, I started searching for a hiding place. Everywhere seemed so bare – the rooms, the wardrobes, the restrooms, even under the beds. I found to my utter dismay that there was no hiding place in the house. I went back to the sitting room to watch as these young men shot at everything in sight. My legs could no longer carry me and I shook as I went on my knees. As I knelt by that window and watched, the only thing that came to mind was, “. . . no evil shall come near you, only with your eyes will you look and behold . . . .”
For over two decades, Psalms 23 and 91 have become part of my daily prayers. I memorized the former as a child and the latter as an adult. There is not a day that I miss them. In fact, the possible challenge would be rather uttering the words absent mindedly but never forgetting: like daily tonics, they were parts of my morning prayers. Yet, at that time of the night, when I was totally overwhelmed by fear, from a depth I couldn’t reach on my own, those words floated all around me, like the voice of a Father, soothing, comforting.
My ears heard my tongue, consciously or unconsciously echoing the voice in my heart. “… no evil shall come near you, only with your eyes will you look and behold . . . .” I lay low to avoid being impacted by randomly flying pellets. I remembered, “Though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me.” But I was shaking, I was afraid.
Despite the reassurance echoing in my heart, the terror threatening outside had my feet wobbly, my heart jittery, as I pondered possibilities. I had no money on me. I was alone. Quickly, I put on some clothing and waited for help. The robbers had run toward the opposite end of the entrance, away from the initial shots. I heard cars speeding by which turned out to be the ones they came with. Then everywhere went cold and quiet, like a graveyard. Nothing stirred but they could be lurking, hiding, waiting to pounce so all continued, still like corpses.
After a while that seemed like another eternity, I heard a different kind of noise outside. It has been a night of strange noises and this one seemed friendly. I looked out and noticed that police men had stormed the facility. One by one, my neighbors emerged. It was not until I was convinced that those were real security operatives and that it was safe to step out before I joined them. Everyone was traumatized as they told their stories.
The robbers had blocked the entrance gate with their car. One of the security men called out to them from inside, not knowing who they were. He requested that they moved their car out of the way so residents could freely get in and out. They ignored him. He then stepped out to reason with them and it was at that point that they overpowered him with guns. They led him back inside, locked up the security team in the restroom and took away their phones which were discovered later, all dismantled and littered on the floor – they were cheap phones, no good for robbers.
The robbers then opened the gate and drove in their cars. Starting from the last house, they went from house to house, taking away mobile phones first (so victims can’t call for help or alert neighbors,) then carting away electronic devices, jewelries, and other valuables, taking their time. They turned each room inside out, each house upside down, looting and beating and some were raped in the process. They carried every prized item they could find to their car – they were not at all in a rush.
My house was to be the last. It would have been the first. It could have been the second. But they chose to make it last, for reasons they probably would never know. They had made the rounds and mine was going to be the next before the robbers were interrupted by gunshots outside the gate. We learned that the police men, who released the earlier shots, were chasing a biker. Police men and bikers are like cats and mice but that day, it worked for good.
We learned that unable to evade his hunters, the biker ran into our compound because the gate was wide open. On getting close, the policemen were informed by neighbors that armed robbers were operating in the compound. To draw the robbers out, the police men released those shots from a distance. That was what abruptly ended the attack on my neighbor and the robbers shot as they sought escape. I could have been the next but God spared me.
I don’t know if I would have survived a face-to-face encounter with these evil men who have no regard for good and godliness. I don’t know how I would have responded to about a dozen men at the door, demanding that I let them in. Would I have dared to open that door? I think not. Much as those were rugged security doors, recall that the desperation of these same guys had taken out the closest neighbor’s windows and security devices to get in – they were that determined.
There is no telling what we can do when fear overtakes us: I was thoroughly frightened. I am not sure I would have been smart and courageous enough to comply as I have been taught by security experts over time, to open up that door and let them in. Would I have stood a chance if they were made to take out the windows and get in only to discover that apart from the fact that I refused to cooperate, I had no cash on me, that I am a lady, and that I was alone? There is no way of telling what could have happened, no way of estimating how my life would have been impacted by that singular event. God spared me. Yes I was shaken, yet I knew beyond any shadow of doubt, that I was sheltered under the shadow of Him whom the whole world calls, “The Almighty!”
Glory!