The Warden: Chief Lazarus Ekanem

Chief Lazarus Ekanem worked thirty-one years at Kirikiri prison, just across the road from the estate. He retired with a gold watch and, people whisper, a copy of every key. Everyone calls him the Warden. He insists on it.

He bought the big house at No. 1145 and named it Prizm, with the sign lit purple. He wears white linen and gold rings on party nights and carries a fly-whisk he does not need. He calls every young man "my son" and remembers every naira anyone has ever owed him. His security is everywhere: his boys in black, two retired warders he trusts, and friends in uniform he "takes care of".

The Warden does not sell anything. He connects. The back booth on Prizm's ground floor is his office, and there an importer who needs a container cleared at the ports meets a man who knows a man, a contractor meets someone with a signature, a seller meets a buyer. He introduces, he hosts, he witnesses, and he takes ten percent for the table. He never signs and never touches the goods.

He believes the estate is just a smaller prison and that he is still in charge of it. Lately he has heard about a young man at Iloro House with a London accent, and a London accent, to the Warden, means connections abroad.