June 16th, 2005, was a gory night. I experienced it with 20,000 other student in the little town of Ago-Iwoye, where there was conflict between students of Olabisi Onabanjo University and the town indigenes. A student was killed and the Student Union Government and students went on a peaceful protest which unfortunately went wrong.
The palace wall crumbled and the king’s home was set ablaze. In a matter of minutes, a humongous mushroom cloud reached to the dark clouds from the town’s centre, but the repercussions lasted for the rest of the night. Students were attacked, some were killed, others raped and many injured. I was attacked, ran and found safety in a church, where I hid with a few other students.
I was one of the lucky ones. I carry a wound in my belly, but there were psychological wounds too. 12 years later, I published a novel based on the true-life story of that night of bloodshed and massacre titled, “Night of a Red Moon”.