This play exposes the antics of pickpockets, bribe-takers and other criminals, and how nemesis catches up with them eventually.
THE CAST
OWÓNIKÓKÓ, ÌGBÀLAYÉ = leaders of the robbery gang.
ORÍYỌMÍ = the man robbed of his money at Ìdó.
ỌMỌ́WÙMÍ = Oríyọmí's child.
UGOKÉŃKÉ, ŃJỌKÀ, ŃWỌ́KÀ, ÒKÉRÉKORÒ = other robbers who come to Ìdó and join Owónikókó's gang. Òkérékorò later becomes a government witness against Owónikókó.
KỌ́BÙRÙ, SÁJẸ́ǸTÌ, KỌ́ŃSTÉBÙ = corporal, sergeant and constable respectively (policemen handling the case).
MỌ̀ŃMỌ̀ = an Hausa man who buys a radio set from Owónikókó.
ACT 1
SCENE 1 : Ìgbàlayé visits Owónikókó at home. Both complain about the hard times. Owónikókó stopped his education at Primary 6 and Ìgbàlayé at JSS 2. Both qualifications are inadequate for gainful employment. Still, they observe that some people they know become rich without any formal education. They eventually decide to become pick-pockets robbing bus passengers. Ìgbàlayé explains, "We will rob passengers while struggling to enter buses during rush hours and then get down to meet elsewhere to share the loot. Whoever hasn't robbed anyone can travel with the bus and get down before the conductors asks for money."
SCENE 2 : Ìgbàlayé and Owónikókó arrive Tinubu Square at 3 pm with sharp blades to cut people's pockets. While at the bus door, Ìgbàlayé cuts someone's pocket, picks 10 naira and gets down for his "inability to get in". Owónikókó gets ₦50 out of another passenger before leaping down from the bus. Ìgbàlayé's victim is unable to pay his transport fare. The two crooks meet and share the loot equally (at ₦30 each). They then enter a restaurant, where Owónikókó steals the seller's purse after asking for water to wash his face. Ìgbàlayé goes to Bristol Hotel while Owónikókó goes home.
SCENE 3: Owónikókó visits Ìgbàlayé (who spent ₦20 at the hotel the previous day before a prostitute stole his remaining ₦10). Owónikókó suggests they work as luggage carriers at motor parks to camouflage their real intentions. They can make money legitimately as carriers, run away with people's luggages or pick passengers' pockets. They will thus have 3 avenues of making money. They can also help drivers and motor park touts to get passengers. At an eatery in Ìdó, they meet a herbalist named Jẹ́jẹ́lékòó, who gives them free charms for detecting people with money on them but demands ₦150 for the charm that will make them invisible while stealing.
:::::::::::::::: ACT 2 ::::::::::::::
SCENE 1 : Owónikókó escapes with a new bride's luggage at Ìdó motor park. He sells the contents for ₦500 and deposits ₦400 at Barclay's Bank (now First Bank). After filling a bus with passengers, they give the chief tout the transport fare and collect the change to give the passengers. In the process, Owónikókó picks ₦12 from the chief tout's side pocket.
SCENE 2: While Ìgbàlayé is waiting for an official period to rob people, Owónikókó tells him how he robbed the chief tout. Ẹsẹ̀gìrì (Owónikókó's greedy friend) and Arírebánijẹ follow the two to Mainland Hotel to eat. While Ẹsẹ̀gìrì thanks Owónikókó and Ìgbàlayé after the meal, Arírebánijẹ just departs.
SCENE 3: Owónikókó and Ìgbàlayé meet new friends at Ìdó. They are Ńwọ́kà, Ńjọkà, Ugokéńké and Òkérékorò and are all from the South East of the country. They tell Owónikókó and Ìgbàlayé that they don't need any coaching before starting work, as experienced thieves. They only need to learn Yoruba language, instead of speaking Pidgin English only. The rule is for each robber to hand over half his loot for the others to share. That same day, Òkérékorò picks ₦10 from a passenger while Ńjọkà picks ₦50.
:::::::::::::: ACT 3 ::::::::::::::::
SCENE 1: All the gang members meet at Ìdó motor park as usual. A private car owner drives towards them and they flock round him. Òkérékorò shouts, "There is fire under your vehicle". As Oríyọmí gets down to check his vehicle but sees no fire, Owónikókó tells him to open his car's bonnet. As he opens the bonnet with both hands, Owónikókó picks ₦60 from his pocket and runs away. Ọmọ́wùmí (Oríyọmí's child) catches Òkérékorò picking his own pocket and recovers his own ₦1 from him with a hot slap. The rogues run away before Oríyọmí discovers he has been robbed. All the ₦60 he withdrew from the bank that morning has disappeared. Oríyọmí and Ọmọ́wùmí park their car in a hidden place and trace the robbers. They find Òkérékorò alone and he rightly denies stealing from Oríyọmí. The motor park tout secretary promises to get the whole truth out of Òkérékorò and tells Oríyọmí to come back the next day. Ọmọ́wùmí has to go back to Ibadan without his school fees and beg the school authorities to be patient.
SCENE 2: The next day, Oríyọmí returns to the motor park where the tout secretary tells him, "Òkérékorò keeps denying stealing your money but promises to help you catch the thief, Owónikókó. He is not here currently but will come by tomorrow morning. Òkérékorò and I will track him down and either recover your money or get him arrested". When they meet the following morning, Owónikókó comes to the park with a brand new radio set and refuses to share any of the loot with Òkérékorò. He claims to be broke after using his loot to buy the radio.
SCENE 3: Oríyọmí comes to the motor park to see the secretary after closing from work. The secretary tells Òkérékorò to take Oríyọmí to Owónikókó's house to recover the radio as evidence to present to the police. They hear the sound of a radio playing from the house of an Hausa man, Mọ̀ńmọ̀, who can't communicate with them because he can speak very little Yoruba and bought it from Owónikókó (as revealed by a neighbour). The neighbour (Mr Òtítọ́jù) also reveals that Owónikókó is of no fixed address and is a criminal. The secretary persuades Òkérékorò to follow Oríyọmí to the police station to report the case, assuring him he will be made a prosecution witness.
:::::::::::::::: ACT 4 ::::::::::::::
SCENE 1: While they are reporting to the police, Kọ́bùrù identifies Òkérékorò as a regular visitor to the police station for theft cases. When Oríyọmí says he is literate enough to write his own statement and that he is educated beyond School Cert level, Kọ́bùrù reveals that the Inspector-general of Police has only a School Cert. Kọ́bùrù helps Òkérékorò to write his own dictated statement. Oríyọmí is asked to come back the next day. Òkérékorò takes Kọ́bùrù to the Hausa man's house. When Kọ́bùrù tries to recover the radio, Mọ̀ńmọ̀ shows him the receipt he got from Owónikókó after buying the radio at₦48. Kọ́bùrù commends his honesty but Mọ̀ńmọ̀ refuses to give up the radio (even brandishing a knife) until Kọ́bùrù brings out his police ID card and explains things further. He then gives up both the radio and its receipt.
SCENE 2: Òkérékorò helps Kọ́bùrù to identify Owónikókó at the motor park at 5 am the next day. Owónikókó refuses to answer Kọ́bùrù's questions, resists arrest (even after seeing Kọ́bùrù's ID card) and brings out a knife (forcing Kọ́bùrù to bring out his own gun). He even tries to bribe Kọ́bùrù, who eventually manages to get him to the police station. Kọ́bùrù now reads the charges (about the March 20 robbery of Oríyọmí and his buying a radio set with the loot and then selling it). He denies knowing the radio set's owner even when confronted with the receipt. He is detained. The motor park secretary tells Oríyọmí about Owónikókó's arrest.
SCENE 3: Owónikókó denies ever having seen Oríyọmí before and says God will judge him for wrongly accusing him of theft. He eventually owns up when confronted with the radio again. Kọ́bùrù tells Oríyọmí to come back to the police station on March 30, when Owónikókó will be arraigned at the court on Mosáfẹ́jọ́ Road. Kọ́bùrù asks Oríyọmí for money to give Sájẹ́ǹtì (Sergeant) in addition to extending Oríyọmí's greetings. Oríyọmí refuses and leaves the station disappointed about the extortion attempt. The motor park secretary too expects a "reward" and asks how much he has given the police. Oríyọmí replies, "How can I be bribing people when I'm innocent and after I have been robbed? After the case has been completely settled, I can give gifts in appreciation".
:::::::::::::: ACT 5 ::::::::::::::::
SCENE 1: On the said 30 March, the criminal is taken to court but the police prosecutor says, "The investigations are yet to be concluded". The case is postponed to 7 April and Owónikókó returned to police custody. Kọ́bùrù (Corporal Bọ́lájókòó) says the police prosecutor dislikes him personally. On April 7, the police prosecutor asks for 2 more weeks because "the policeman in charge of this case has gone to a higher court over another case today". This case is postponed to April 21. On April 21, Kọ́bùrù admits that his April 7 absence was due to the very reasons the prosecutor gave. Police protocol demands going to the higher court when 2 cases clash. After Oríyọmí has confirmed from the court clerk that his case is the first for the day, the police prosecutor has it moved to the tenth position! Kọ́bùrù now reveals, "Maybe the prosecutor thinks I have collected a bribe from you without sharing it with him". Oríyọmí goes to the judge's chambers to complain about the constant postponements, which affects his job as a teacher. The judge fixes the case for the very next Saturday, April 26 as the first case.
SCENE 2: On April 26, the case is heard. The judge ridicules Owónikókó for trying to intimidate him with cultist signals and then influence him with a letter (probably from bigwigs). Owónikókó claims to be working with the Nigeria Ports Authority but cites the wrong address and boss for the agency. When asked his mission at the motor park where he was caught, he claims to be working part-time as a motor park tout. Oríyọmí's court statement mentions Òkérékorò as the person who saw Owónikókó pick his pocket. The case is postponed to May 3 for Òkérékorò to appear in court.
SCENE 3: Oríyọmí's other witness, Ugokéńké, can't appear in court because he has been sentenced to jail by that very court for another robbery the previous day. Òkérékorò appears and testifies truthfully (citing Owónikókó's confession of using Oríyọmí's money to buy the radio set). Owónikókó is sentenced to 9 months in prison because he has already spent 3 months in police custody. He is taken to Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Apapa.
In addition, the judge decrees that : (a) the police around Ìdó should get a list of registered motor park touts from their association's chairman and secretary; (b) the police should arraign all the unregistered park touts ; (c) the motor park tout association in Ìdó should be disbanded forever because of their extortion of passengers and drivers; (d) each driver should call his own passengers himself. Defaulters who are arraigned will be jailed for 6 months or pay 500 naira fine. The court crowd jubilate on the new lease of life in motor parks.
THE END.
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