Things soon got worse. Over the next couple of hours, it began to rain again, after which we found ourselves flying through lightning. We were buffeted about in our seats, our stomachs churning, our fingers gripping the arm-rests. Just minutes before we reached Port Harcourt, the pilot decided to land in the bush.

And so, as night fell, we came down with an almighty bump in a muddy field somewhere in the forests of eastern Nigeria; I noticed a few of the soldiers crossing themselves when we finally came to a standstill.

Gunner moved swiftly into action. He might not have been the world’s greatest interviewee, but he knew how to deal with his men. He picked out five of them to accompany him on a reconnaissance mission, and gave a short speech to the rest of us explaining the situation.

‘We go see if we can find some transport for us to leave here.’ He gestured at the two soldiers sitting in the aisle seats in the front row, and for a moment I thought he might point out the emergency exits, like in the safety demonstrations. ‘In the meantime, Njoku and Otigbe, keep watch on your windows. If you see anything suspicious at all at all, raise the alarm. Everyone, stay close to your weapons. When we return, we knock four times on the door. Do not let anyone in who no knock four times. Understand?’

Everyone shouted that they understood, sir, and Gunner and his group started gathering up their weapons and back-packs.

‘We’re sitting ducks,’ I said to Isabelle. ‘A fully lit plane sitting in the middle of a field. What’s to stop the Biafrans from attacking us?’

‘Fighting is finished for today,’ she said.

‘You sound very sure of that.’

She nodded. ‘There is a routine, followed by both sides. Usually, they fight in the morning, then have lunch and a siesta and then they fight for a few more hours in the afternoon. They do less during the rainy season - there is too much mud. In any case, it is very rare that there is fighting after dark, so we should be completely safe.’

Siestas? It seemed I had stumbled into a joke-shop war. Still, if what she said were true, then perhaps there was some hope. We had only been a few minutes from landing in Port Harcourt, which was a Federal stronghold. That meant there should be plenty of transport around. If we weren’t under threat, I might be able to find some. I got out of my seat.

‘What are you doing?’ said Isabelle. ‘Wait for me.’

I found Gunner and told him that we wanted to come along on the expedition. ‘This could be a big story,’ I said. ‘“Captain Leads Unit To Safety After Aircraft Downed By Storm”.’

He considered the idea. ‘You do as I say at all times,’ he said eventually. ‘Otherwise I tell my men to shoot you on the spot.’