November 20, (THEWILL) – Nigerian rapper and actor, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has recounted a harrowing near-death experience that happened in 2013, detailing how both he and his managers narrowly escaped a life-threatening situation.
Falz, along with his managers, Femi Soro Ajayi and Sidney Sule, shared a chilling account of being attacked by armed men. The incident occurred on their way back from Abuja, where Falz had been invited to perform at a wedding ceremony.
He described the assailants as turban-tying, AK47-wielding, dangerous-looking men who opened fire on them along the expressway.
Falz revealed that their driver lost his life, and the vehicle veered towards the forest, causing everyone on board to lose consciousness. The rapper recounted that the armed robbers retreated into the forest upon hearing police sirens.
Reflecting on the traumatic incident, Falz mentioned that this occurred in 2013, a period following his National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, while he was working as a lawyer in his father’s firm.
According to Falz, “There was no flight from Abuja to Lagos. So, we hired a car from Abuja to Benin. I led a solid prayer and it was probably what ended up saving us. It was broad daylight and we started the trip around 2 pm. We fell asleep during the trip.
“Then we just heard a loud bang. We woke up to see these turban-tying, AK47-wielding, dangerous-looking men in the middle of the expressway. The bang we heard was a gunshot they had shot at the car. They shot at our car again and the bullet came flying in between everyone. Everything happened so fast.
“They shot at us again and the bullet hit the driver in the eye. The driver died instantly. The car started moving. It was wild. I remember seeing the car heading for a ditch and just thinking this is it.
“Then we passed out. I was the first to come around. I got out of the car and saw one of the men asking ‘Where is the money?’ I told him there was no money. He goes to the car looking for cash.
“We had left Abuja but we hadn’t gotten to Lokoja. It was all forest. It was the peak of Boko Haram and we were somewhere in the north. We started to hear sirens from far away. The police did not come near. At this point, they increased fire and started shooting. They later moved away from us and retreated.
“We tried to stop cars on the expressway, but not a single soul stopped. A police guy eventually came and another guy said he was a doctor.”
