That evening at 6:23 pm, somewhere around circle, three strange men alighted from a Tamale bus that had just arrived at the VVIP station in the vast, bustling, famous yet infamous Circle. For two of their men, it was their first time in Accra. Thus, they were taken aback by the extent to which Circle was busy. Even at the station, people walked and brushed by them carelessly, infuriating them. One of them wanted to react to a woman with a baby who had bumped into him so suddenly. The one who had been in Accra before held him off and spoke calm to him in their language. The woman stopped, ogled at the three men disrespectfully and continued her walk. She chuckled and said in Twi 'I thought they were men enough.' The two men were now aware of their environment, observing keenly to avoid anymore bumps and careless city folks. The one who knew Accra led them out of the bus station.
The three men, dressed in black thawbs and turbans, attracted some attention. They just looked out of place, very unlike people living in Accra. There was an air of crime and danger around them too. Some passers-by gave them long, hard and suspicious look. The men seem to also agree that they looked out of place but they barely cared. It was not part of their missing. Their walk brought them right beneath the bridge where conductors of mini buses screamed various locations the buses were headed. However, the men ignored them and crossed the road. Right on the other side was another road. The one who knew Accra well signalled them to follow him. They crossed and stood right in front of a building that had a familiar statue and a painted Ghana flag on it. They stood there and and stopped a taxi.
'Take us to Africa Star Hotel,' the one who knew Accra quite well directed as they sat in the car.
'Is it the one at East Legon or the one at Achimota?' The driver asked. He was now a little skeptic about picking them because he suddenly realised that they were not from Accra. Worse, they looked too suspicious for his liking. However, they were already in the car.
'East Legon,' the man responded undertone. He was seated in the front seat so he expected the driver to hear. The driver nodded and sped off toward the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, but was immediately met with a jam in traffic that was almost insurmountable.
He managed to escape the long hours they were going to spend in the traffic. While he drove, he stole quick glances at the men seated behind through the mirror. One was scar-faced, looked like he had just come out of a movie as a villain. His eyes were cold and had a certain kind of focus. The other had a milder appearance - much more handsome and less dangerous. He seemed to be really enjoying the sights and scenes of the night in Accra because the whole time he was looking out of the window. Who were these people? Where were they coming from? On which agenda were they to have showed up in this capital city?
The driver became more alarmed when they began to speak in a different language his ears were not accustomed to. Keeping composure when you knew your security was never assured was quite difficult. They kept chatting while the driver kept analysing.
'Driver, are you sure this is the road to East Legon?' The man in front asked when he realised that the car had taken a rather new route which he clearly was not familiar with. The accent with which he spoke the Twi made it clearer to the driver that they were coming from one of the regions in Northern Ghana.
'The traffic o. It will make us keep long on the road. So, I will pass here…' the driver continued with the winding direction which would make them reach East Legon faster. To the men, it sounded that it would be a longer trip than sitting in the traffic. However, they grunted in positive response to the driver's suggestion.
'But it is like you are coming from Tamale? Or where?' The driver asked. He badly wanted to start a conversation to ease the tension in his mind.
'Yes. We just came to town. We came to do something this week,' the one in front replied.
'Oh okay. Aha! Because your dressing looks like you don't come from Accra. So you will stay for how long?' The driver asked. He did not hear that last bit that they would be in Accra for a week.
'Just one week.'
'Okay. Okay. That is nice. Ei this city is very busy and tough and people can take advantage of you oh, so just beware okay? As for me, I always tell those that are new here that they should be careful.' The driver said kindly.
'Okay, Papa Driver. But are you free to drive us around? At least since we do not know town well?'
The man in front suggested.
'Oh I am very available. I am international driver. I do this a lot for people and don't worry about the price - I will be very kind.'
'Great. We want your number.'
They exchanged contacts and continued the chat. They kept talking and the men kept asking questions about Accra. The conversation cascaded up and down and the driver kept feeding them with a lot of details about the town. He mentioned the kind of clients he had gotten over time, especially the rich ones.
'One of my client's children attends this big school called Rand's Boys. Last weekend that school had a big anniversary.' The driver remarked.
'Really?' The man in front was puzzled and wanted to hear more.
'Yes. I didn't know the school was big like that. I would have charged the client even much more than I did because they have money! They did some programme over the weekend. They invited some big man. Some international Ghanaian man came around. I don't know his name.'
The three men looked at one another in the car. The taxi driver continued to talk about how the man came with so much security and a whole entourage and how everyone kept shouting how famous he was.
However, the driver was wondering why the three men kept asking so many questions about that particular meeting and the particular man who had come from abroad to grace the event.
They wanted to know who he was and other details that the driver did not have.
'Why? You know him?' The driver finally asked.
'We will be glad if you could get some information about him. We need him for some help and that's why we are in Accra.' The man in front said.
But it sounded too dishonest. Something was fishy and this driver was interested.
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