A SHORT STORY

Somewhere in Nigeria. 

Anthony was a criminal, a wanted person avoiding being arrested for various crimes. The law was hot in pursuit. Law enforcement agents were looking for him, therefore, he decided to leave town and relocate to another state until things cool off. He might even do better in crime in the new state where no one knows him. Travelling by road was risky, Policemen on the highway might spot him. He decided to travel by train. Many coaches, he can easily pass unnoticed among the crowd. Good idea. 

Anthony goes about disguised with fake moustache, hairstyle, eyelashes, adjusted eyebrows and other stuffs he does on his appearance to look very different from who the Police is  actually looking for. It was early in the morning, he put on his disguise and arrived at the train station. 

He headed confidently towards the ticketing section. Unfortunately for him, the train administration recently stopped receiving cash for tickets sales. You either buy tickets online or pay via electronic means. Anthony had no problem with that, he always beat the system. He dug into his bag at his shoulder, opened a hidden compartment and brought out one out of many ATM cards he cloned for such emergency purposes. So sorry for the real account holder, by the time he realises part of his money is missing, he would be long gone.  Anthony does not use one card more than once, thus his escaping justice since. Once he uses them, he instantly wipe them clean of fingerprints, break them into pieces and throw them away. He changes his looks regularly, therefore CCTV footage are useless in identifying him. 

Ticket sales by electronic payment was new at the station. New staff were recently employed, Smartboy one of them. Smartboy  was a crook too, but not the street type. He forged a school certificate to get the job. His fake CV included computer knowledge. He has worked as a sales clerk at the station for several months. An easy job. They pay in cash and you give them their ticket. Simple. Since his CV included computer knowledge, the train station administration, after recently stopping cash payment and starting electronic  payment for sales of tickets simply gave him a very easy to use computer for online and electronic payment and printing of tickets. Nobody paid attention him. Of course, he is supposed to be a graduate. Smartboy had no idea how to use it, but couldn't complain lest he be discovered. He decided to figure it out somehow. That morning, he was at his seat, the computer in front of him, his first day of online payment and sales. 

Anthony approached him. Smartboy welcomed him. Anthony gave him the ATM card and asked him to debit the N5000 ticket price. Smartboy had the POS in front of him and had an idea how to use it. Unfortunately, Smartboy was not good with keypads, he mistakenly typed N50000. Anthony noticed and was furious. He wanted to shout, but thought otherwise. He would only draw attention to himself, Policemen at the station would come over to intervene, they will ask questions and that will be trouble for him. He therefore played dumb, entered the ATM card pin and waited for his ticket. Anyway, the money was not his, so no big deal. Smartboy made another blunder. The computer was auto ticketing and easy to use. The only thing the sales guy input manually is the seat number for the passenger. Smartboy input an already sold seat. Anthony had no idea the seat was sold. He calmly collected the ticket and went inside the waiting lounge. Unfortunately, the seat was already sold to an off duty intelligence officer going on an holiday. 

The train arrived and the passengers boarded. The seat was number 17. Anthony arrived, the intelligence officer also arrived. Both wanted to seat at the same time. Anthony insisted that was his seat and presented his ticket to the man. He had no idea who he was. The man also had the same number on his ticket and was confused. The intelligence officer played it cool, knowing the ticketing man must have made a mistake. He calmly called one of the train attendants over and narrated the error.  The attendant apologised to the two of them and promised to quickly correct the error. He asked for the receipts of their electronic payments as proof. They both handed them over. As they did, the intelligence officer noticed the number N50000 as payment on Anthony's receipt and was curious. The attendant also noticed. Both the intelligence officer and the attendant thought Anthony had been defrauded by the ticketing man and called his attention to it. Anthony pretended to be outraged but began to get fidgety. He didn't want a scene at all. Not now by all means. The intelligence officer noticed and his intelligence training began to stir up. This fraud got both the officer and the attendant annoyed and they asked Anthony to follow them to the ticketing office for a refund and allocation  of different seats. Sweat began to break out on Anthony's forehead. To revert the transfer, his ATM card will be collected, bank details confirmed and refund form filled and signed.  He wanted to run, but couldn't, not in the midst of this crowd entering the train. He decided to follow them. He decided to take off as soon as they get off the already filling up train and are in the open space leading to the ticketing office. He will simply run into a nearby bush and dissappear. He has no ATM card to present. He had since broken it up and flushed it down the toilet before entering the train. He has no option left, but to flee. 

The three got off the train and were in the open space leading to the ticketing office. The intelligence officer was now more focused on Anthony who didn't appear comfortable at all. His alarm began to ring. Could this be a fraud ring or what ? Is Anthony complicit ? As the three moved towards the ticket section, Anthony moved to run. The moment he took off, the intelligence officer swung into action. He was trained for that. He took off after him, quickly reached him, pulled him back, tackled him and brought him down. Anthony was a strong man and also a street criminal. He knew how to fight. He was desperate to escape. He tried a few deadly kicks and blows, but the man blocked them all, landed a few punches at the right places and subdued Anthony. 

Well, the security men at the train station, observing, quickly rushed to the scene. The officer identified himself and was appreciated. Anthony could not produce his ATM card and was arrested. Smartboy too was discovered as a fake graduate and was arrested. Anthony was eventually discovered to be a wanted criminal, stripped of his disguise and prosecuted for his crimes. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY : Is Smartboy a good person or bad person ? 

Copyright Tosin Oke

Global Motivation Speed

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