05/09/2023
“So you will be using the train from Abuja to Kaduna”
A week before this message, we had concluded a bruising two months of shoot in Lagos. This was no ordinary shoot. I had seen this incredible team do some really incredible things, including building a huge Balogun market scene, moved set and equipment on barges to Tarkwa Bay (I have never seen this in my time in Nollywood), along with building at least 20 different sets in and out of studio.
We had shot at the prestigious Holy Cross Cathedral, and when I asked how, Editi told me how they went there everyday for a month, and followed up for 3 months, till the church just got tired and approved the shoot. MADD o!
Lagos phase one was done. But the shoot had been so exhausting, I was not too surprised to hear one third of the crew had dropped when it was time to head to Kaduna. But it wasn’t just exhaustion, there was Fear!- a few days before, armed men had reportedly attacked the Kaduna airport. People were scared.
Everyone who remained was so plugged into this project, we were going to Kaduna, come rain or shine. But the day after the first batch of crew flew into Kaduna, the airline which flew Lagos-Kaduna direct stopped operations. There were only two options - road or train. Nor be juju be that?
Traveling by road was out of the question. So train it is. Flew to Abuja and took the train. Loved it but all through the journey we talked about safety. There were police men on board which only heightened the security question. But we made it to kaduna no incident.
Kaduna shoot was a month. I enjoyed watching these young people do the crazy stuff like building roads to the hills where we built our set, shooting from hillsides and blowing up an actual house. It was incredible.
Then we got back on the trains and returned home safely. Weeks later, the trains were attacked by unknown gunmen, and has since been shut down.
