It is interesting that the police is rekindling our hope that there is always a dissatisfying end for every evil done in secrets.
We must also admire the courage, tenacity and intelligence of police detectives who besieged the hideouts of a kidnap syndicate and apprehended the infamous kidnap kingpin, John Lyon.
After watching the viral video of Lyon’s arrest, I had to search for his name via a search engine to verify his identity if possible run some profiling.
The result of my findings was not in agreement with the true situation. I had to rewatch the video and it broke my heart after listening to his confession.
As I surfed through his profiles on social media accounts, the video of a hefty, shirtless young man wearing boxers and weeping uncontrollably and begging police detectives to free him could not escape my thought.
How does a prayerful person, online motivator, preacher of hardwork and deserving leisure end up being a kidnap kingpin?
As I pondered and carefully examined the chameleon status of John Lyon, one of my good Egbons fondly called ‘Baruwa’ relieved my mental stress.
According to Baruwa, every human being has three kind of lifestyles namely private, public and secret.
The private lifestyle is the one that is known to immediate family members. The public lifestyle is how he or she wants the public to see him or her while the secret lifestyle is the one that is unknown to all.
The story of John Lyon is similar to the tales of many Nigerians who make earnings through illegal means and have no regard for hardwork.
Some Nigerians dupe people, become emergency entrepreneurs or CEOs by setting up businesses to cover their tracks.
Those who engage in money rituals also create fake profiles to justify their expensive lifestyles.
They sometimes participate in politics to either serve as leverage or provide opportunity to mix with powerful people for protection against possible prosecution.
We also have people who lament about kidnapping cases in the country but are major participants of the business.
John Lyon is not alone. He is just a representation of colony of desperados and moneybag chasers who are ready to do anything as far as it is not work to live expensively.
The organ harvesters and drug barons share same fate too. They run their illegal businesses secretly and create different impressions as means of livelihood to justify their lifestyles.
These people also act as motivational speakers on social media platforms. They upload pictures depicting expensive lifestyles, citing God’s grace and blessings as factors responsible for their wealth.
Like John Lyon, they would admonish their gullible followers to work smarter and imbibe their teachings of wealth creation. They sometimes write business plans, share interesting opinions about growth to maintain and preserve their covers.
Like John Lyon, they also attend churches and mosques. They worship God and ask for blessings too. They go to religious places to harass, impress and molest the vulnerable. They use ill-gotten funds to set up businesses for their wives, enjoying the temporal gains of vanity that will diminish with time.
On daily basis, we have an intimidating number of people flocking into their business of ruins. Sadly, this colony is expanding and there is no strong will from the government in addressing likely causes of this menace.
People no longer have reasons to engage in fraudulent acts. They just want to get rich and live flamboyantly. Our moral fabric as a nation has indeed torned.
However, the arrest of Bayesla-born kidnap kingpin Iidentified as John Lyon is an assurance that there is always unpredictable end for evildoers.
The arrest is a proof that there is a time for everything. Time to steal, time to enjoy loot and time to face damning consequences.
The apprehension is a clear indication that we can not solely attribute the growing insecurity in Nigeria to invaders or foreigners.
An evidence to the postulations of those who claimed that the insecurity in Nigeria which is a recurring phenomenon can only be efficiently tackled if Nigerians especially the elite circle wants peace.
As much as I’m pleased with the arrest of John Lyon who never expected that the glory of his fraudulent acts could be cut short, I am damn sure that the end of many others who thrive on illegal businesses or make others cry to enjoy lives will face the full wrath of law or nature soonest.
While we enjoy the dramas that come with the prosecution of John Lyon, tell a fraudster that you know that the time of retribution is near and he or she might be the next person.
Till then, I have no sympathy or condolences for evildoers.