Ola Barnabas

I crossed over from 2017 to 2018 in Ilorin, Kwara state of Nigeria, and because I am a Christian, I had to go to church for the crossing-over service. We were on our way in a bus carrying worshippers from the church, passing through the Taiwo-Isale area of Ilorin city at about 3:00am when we met a barricade on the road – some people had set fire to a tire on the main road to stop vehicular and human movement and had also supported that with heavy stones, trees, etc. The driver and indeed all of us, having no prior knowledge, had thought it was just some youths celebrating the new year and wanting some handouts from vehicle owners; it was on that assumption that the driver proceeded to drive past the burning tire only to find that it was beyond our collective assumption. Amidst shout of Stop! Turn back! and all that, we were met with heavy sticks, stones, and clubs. The bus glasses were completely broken by the irate group while those of us inside were either praying, shouti