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my mind was trying to suggest some kind of dead animal. I had seen all kinds of road-kill:
camel, donkey, cats, dogs, snakes and so on. To my horror, it was a man. The moment I
realizedwhatitwas,Iscreamedandswervedintotraffic.Thedeceasedwasontheshoulder
of the road in plain sight of the numerous vehicles that drove by, including several police
cars. Thankfully his face was covered with a sheet but I could smell the body.
When I arrived in Ore and entered the Catholic Church to pray for that man, I met
Father Paddy, an Irish missionary who had been in Nigeria since the 1960s. I said to him,
“Father, I saw something quite disturbing on the side of the road.”
He asked, “What? Do you mean the body?”
Astonished, I said, “Yeah…it must have been there for at least a couple of days.”
“No”, said the priest, “actually he has been there for two weeks.”
Father Paddy explained that it was out of fear that no one had reported it, even
thoughthepoliceknewhewasthere.Thisfearstemmedfromthecorruptionandlackofin-
terest by the police which deterred anyone from coming forward. When I asked why, I was
told that whoever would report it would be interrogated and then arrested as the criminal.
Thepolicewouldthenjustifyitbysayingthatitwasoutofaguiltyconsciencethattheper-
son came forward in the first place. Father Paddy also added that ever since bandits killed
a police officer at a nearby checkpoint, the police were quite indifferent to any crimes that
occurred in the area.
I was invited to stay in the guest room and joined Father Paddy for dinner. I had a
fascinating conversation with him on Nigeria's history, politics and religion, and he shared
some disturbing stories of the local soldiers.
After attending mass with Father Paddy the next morning, I thanked him for his
hospitality and began cycling to Benin City. As I proceeded on the hilly road, my thoughts
moved onto the deceased man from the day before. I tried not to imagine myself in that
predicament, but I couldn't stop. If that was me on the side of the road, would anyone re-
port it? And, if so, how long would I be lying there?
Overthecourseofthemorning,myattentionmovedawayfromthismorbidthought
andIbegantoenjoytheday'scycle.Theroadflattenedoutandthetrafficlessenedsignific-
antly which helped me set a good pace. I quickly arrived in Benin City and was welcomed
to stay at the cathedral.
Thenextmorning,Iwokeuptogotomassat6:00a.m.Afteraquickbreakfastwith
the religious community, I headed out of the city in the direction of Onitcha. The terrain
remained quite flat until the half-way mark and then it started to get hilly which made the
scenery a bit more interesting.
However, the day proved to be one of the most stressful cycling days I have had.
The main culprit was the traffic- not necessarily the amount of it but their insane driving
habits. The road I was on only had one lane in each direction with a narrow shoulder on
both sides. I have never seen trucks (including fuel trucks) trying to overtake each other
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