Tell your story#16: Your life or your money: Which would you choose?

I often hear about it but have never experienced it first-hand. Sometimes, I would even wonder, what if I chose to struggle or prolong the issue, what outcome would it have been?

Let me start from the beginning.

First of all, I my NYSC by July 25th, traveled down home to see my parents, did a Thanksgiving service for a successful 1-year service.

For the past couple of months, it been traveling from one place to another. Visiting my relatives. Attending to personal issues, getting scared our of my mind, and trying to start a fresh.

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Now, I have a deeper understanding and sense of gratitude for the journey mercies we have all the time we travel without encountering accidents, maybe a little mishap but we still get on our feet unscathed.

Umuahia: I spent a week in Umuahia appeasing my parents, who wouldn't hear I went to my travelling spree without seeing them first. A lot of greeting, smiling until your cheeks hurt, answering questions filled this trip back home.

Enugu: Enugu was fun, celebrated my sister's 40th birthday then became very sick 🤢. I spent 3 days throwing up, vomiting and sweating. My stomach hurts so bad. I was hungry but I couldn't eat, because I will throw it all up again. I realized I had taken the simple things we do every day for granted not knowing that it something to be grateful for every day I wake up.

Abuja: I came into Abuja on the third week of August. The sickness had left me all thin and tired, so I wanted to use the holiday to get myself back. It was here I got the scare of my life.

What really happened?

On the third night in my Uncle's house, Armed robbers came to our area.

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It was 12:30 am, when we first head the first bang but I didn't think much of it. We were almost angry at who it could be making such a noise at that time.

But after few minutes, we heard the noise again, realizing it was robbers. And these men didn't come to play.

They were banging on the doors of every house they could get into. For the doors that didn't open, they went for their windows, breaking the louvers to get inside. They were not one or two of we were thinking of overpowering them. They can in a bus, some of their faces covered, some with tribal marks stretched over their faces, daggers and guns on them.

I've heard of them but never experienced it, so you can imagine how scary it can be. At that point, I felt a serious urge to urinate but will dear allow me to urinate, NO!

We called the policemen but realized we were on our own as no one was coming to our aid.

What I was most scared of was sexual assault or attacking anyone. So we order to avoid further altercation, we surrendered our devices, phones laptops, ATM cards, anything their hands could easily lay on.

What you have learned from it

Should I regret coming for holiday here? No. It can happen anywhere and anything. In all things, we found reason to be grateful for life. Nobody was hurt.

It taught me the genuine habit of being grateful, because you could be happy one minute and I'm disbelief the next minute. I never imagined that 2 days after coming for holiday to rest my head that I would be running around thinking of how to raise the money to get new gadgets.

I invite @fuli, @sammy1109, and @hahdie