The Last Insurgent

Bamba

“Peace be upon you, Mufty.” Bamba said, “Who has not heard about you in our great family? It is an honor to meet you.”

“Get up and cover your piggish body!” Mufty said with a stern face. Leena had never seen him smile but there was a fierce note in his eyes that radiated danger which she had never seen.

“Mufty, I am Bamba of  Harabul kusum. Why are you doing this? What os going on here?”

“I am taking her with me.”

“They are from Al-bait. Jahl sent them and they are headed for……”

“Get up Leena.” Mufty said. “We are leaving.”

She sprang up with alacrity, wiped off her face and felt as if she was just given the chance to go back home. Being with Mufty was better than being with any insurgent.

“Mufty, we are brothers.”

“Why are you keeping her here? Was she sent to you?”

“No. I saw a vision and god told me that she is mine.”

Mufty had expected what Bamba tried to do. He wanted to raise an alarm. Mufty sent a powerful kick and the crashed his Timberland onto his neck. That was a professional move. Bamba could not shout. He whimpered in pain. Held his neck and wriggled on the floor.

“Close your eyes Leena.” Mufty said.

“No, please, mufty. Don’t do it. I will let her go. I am a muslim brother. Muslims don’t kill muslims.”

“Tell me where it is written that muslims should kill non-muslims. Tell me that you select when you detonate bombs. We are deserve death. You, me and all the enemies of God and Islam that call themselves jihadists in this act of brutality.”

“Are you really Mufty?”

“You will find out in your grave.”

Mufty put the barrel of the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Leena was terrified at the sound. She was witnessing the second murder in two days. First it was Bamba who killed a girl. Now he was killed too but she felt his death as a justifiable homicide.

She opened her eyes and saw Bamba’s big shapeless body lying in a pool of blood.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

“Thank you.” She said.

He did not reply her. He just wore that stern expression he always had.

“We leave now.”

“Okay….”

He studied her.

“What is wrong?”

“I was nearly killed. I was thrown into the river and a girl saved me. I wish she could be saved. She has a child….”

“Enough. Come with me.”

She followed him. It was ten she saw three dead bodies on the ground.

She did not know that Mufty who was an insider and had information about the place had being there since in the afternoon.

After Jahl asked him to go look for the men who were missing, and he killed the man who was with him, he began to pursue the bus.

He knew he would not meet up with them but he knew exactly where they were going.

“Come with me.” He said.

They walked briskly to the hall where the girls were kept captive.

Leena screamed as she saw a man with a gun. She had cringed and began to shiver. It was the man who had thrown her into the river.

“It is okay.” Mufty said. “He is with me.”

“He is the man who tried to kill me.” she said.

“I know. There is a misconception.” He said and to the man, “Jalla, open the door.”

“Yes, sir.”

He fired two shots and the door was opened. Beside the building were the bodies of the gunmen. Mufty had taken down six of them; Jalla shot and killed four while Hudu, Jalla’s friend watched.

Leena could not understand how Jalla came into the picture. But what did she understand about these people.

The only person she trusted was Mufty.

Mufty went inside after wearing a mask and saw the ashen-faced  girls wore.

“Who are the so-called wives of Bamba?”

Two young girls stood up. Mufty felt his heart breaking as he looked at them.

“He is dead. I just killed him. Will you like to observe iddah?”

“No!” They said in unison. Jalla chuckled.

“Okay, come with us.”

The girls did not hesitate or wonder who he was. They just felt anything was better than staying here.

Leena saw Aisha and hugged.

“Iceman, right?” Aisha whispered.

Leena smiled and nodded.

They went out of the hall and followed Mufty while Jalla and his friend followed from behind.

They arrived the bank of the river. There were only five canoes. Mufty had come with one while Bamba and his boys had three  while Bamba and nuhu had one. The girls were one hundred and one in number.

“The canoes are not enough.” Jalla said, eyeing Leena from the corner of his eyes. “I suggest you people should leave. I will send for a canoe to carry me , my wife and Hudu.”

My wife? Leena frowned. What was he talking about? What had Mufty done.

“We have to go with them. we have to pick her twin sister, remember?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Some of the girls screamed as they heard the sudden gunshot sound.

Jalla was first to drop on the ground, before Nuhu followed.

Mufty did not care how any of them felt about him. He did not try to explain, All he did what was he felt was imperative.

He was stalking and peeking when he ran into Jalla and Nuhu.

Nuhu, who was obsessed with Leena had invited his friend to come help him kidnap Leena.

When they saw Mufty, they recognised him .He told them he had come for his wife. Jalla also said he came for his wife. He described  Leena and Mufty knew she was the one.

Jalla went on to tell him how he had thrown he into the river. So Mufty saw this as an opportunity to use them. He told them that Jalla could have her and Nuhu could have her twin sister . When he told them that they were identical twins, Nuhu was hyper.

Now he knew he had to kill them. Anyone who saw him must die. They must not talk.

He had decided that every insurgent deserved death and that included him.

“Okay, we have to leave here fast.” He said aloud. “I have disenabled the service provider but we can’t take a risk. The canoes are only six and we must all leave. Not everyone may survive. It all depends on destiny. I don’t know if you know how to row a canoe but you must do it to survive.”

“some of do.” A girl said. “ A lot of us come from riverine areas.”

“Good for you.”

They packed themselves in the canoes like sardines in a can.

It was not about comfort. It was about survival. The voyage began. Mufty had two Ak 47 rifles close to him. Leena was with him while Aisha and Mufty rowed the canoe they were in.

The journey which was dangerous ended one hour later. It was very cold and late.

When the alighted, he wondered how he was going to transport all of these girls. He was surprised they did not ask him where he was taking them to. Why did they trust him?

“ I can’t reach Bamba.” Jahl said. “I have not heard from Mufty since he left. What is going on?”

“I am not comfortable with this.” Sule Mungunu said. “I think we should tell him.”

“No!” Jahl said. “That would be a failure on my part.”

“If we can’t reach Bamba on phone, or any of his boys, then we need to tell him so some boys should go there.”

“I have boys.” Jahl said. “ We are going to Harabal Kusum now. I how Mufty and the boys are dead or safe but not arrested.”

“Mufty will never allow himself get arrested. He would rather die.”

“Hmmm…..I am worried. Get three trucks and thirty boys. Call the canoe boys to wait for us by the river. Open the arsenal. Let the boys be armed to teeth.”

Mungunu greened. He loved such orders.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Hurry. I just feel there is something wrong.”

 They kept walking until they got the point where Mufty hid the truck. He was confused. He had just a truck and one hundred and one girls. How were they going to do this.

“Okay ladies, we have got no time. I think they should be on their way now. They keep check constantly and when they get no response, they try to find out why. Now we have just one truck. Who wants to stay behind?”

Not a single made a sound. There was absolute silence.

“Okay, it is going to be worse this time. I am going to pack you in like goods. I hope you can bear it?”

“We can.”

He began to arrange them into the truck. He put Leena in the front seat, then another girl sat on her lap, then Aisha sat next to Leena, with another girl on her lap before a fifth girl was laid on the girls. 

Ninety-six to go.

He put six on the roof of the car and use a rope to tie them so they would not fall because the road was not so good.

Ninety to go.

He made some of the girls sit down, then another set would sit on top of them, and so it went until he packed them in. they felt very uncomfortable but at this point, the word comfort was out the way.

Survival.

He got under the wheel and began to drive. It was a rough ride but he had to embark on it. Almost two hours later, he stopped the car.

“Everybody alight.”

The girls were glad to alight. Their bodies ached. They stretched and yawned. It was a pathetic scenario.

“You will have to walk down the road, and run into the city. I think you should go to the nearest police station. Congratulations, you are freed.”

Most of the girls burst into tears. They could not believe what he just said. They thought he was taking them to another camp, that had nice people like him.

“Who are you?” One of the girls asked.

“A worthless soul. A dead man in a living body. We do not have time. Go now!”

They kept thanking him and crying before they began to run.

Leena and Aisha did not go with them. He asked them to wait behind. This was the peak of their trust for him, /they had the chance to escape but they did not. They got back into the car and he drove off.

It was while they were driving in the forest something happened. He saw the silhouette of something. He stopped and alighted. He had removed his mask.

He had said to Aisha, “I don’t know why I removed my mask in your presence but if you wish, you can describe me.”

“Never!” She said.

He walked cautiously to the image and then put on a flashlight.

He stood still and felt out of this world for a spilt second. He could not believe his eyes. This was more than what he had seen on his way to Harabul Kusum.

He had been driving when he saw a movement in a narrow river. He had stopped and waited.

It took no time when people emerged as they could not hold their breath any longer.

It was a man and his family members, including some neighbours hiding in the water after an attack. It was very cold and the water was cold. Even the children were forced to hide in water.

He had asked them to come out and put their hands in the air.

He wanted to be sure they were not armed. When they told him their tale, he felt more horrible. He was in a hurry to go after Leena but he could not leave them there. He had taken them to drop them at a place they could escape.

Now what he saw was worse.

It was the body of a woman on the ground. She had begun to swell up but the most astonishing thing was the infant lying beside her and suckling.

The child was naked and held on to the breast. It was obvious there was still milk. Mufty could not explain the anatomical and physiological phenomena.

He could not move and he could not remember ever feeling what he felt at that moment.

Leena had to alight and join him.

“Oh my God!” She cried.

It was Aisha who made the first move of carrying the child. Leena saw that Mufty could not move.

She had to touch him. That touch made him react in such a way that surprised them. It was like being touched with a flame from a gas pipe.

She then remembered when she lived with him. He would never allow his body come in contact with hers. There was a day she was sleeping and her skirt moved up to expose her legs.

He went bunkers. He ordered her to always have a veil on when he was around. That was when she started sleeping with a veil.

He was not just indifferent with the opposite s*x, he seemed to have a phobia for them.

“I am sorry.” She apologised. “I felt you were zonked and you said they were coming.”

‘It’s okay, but please never touch me again.”

She nodded.

He bought out his phone and began to study the woman. He saw some marks on her face that made him thought she from the Kanuri people.

He put on the flash of the camera and took some photos of her.

He looked at the child who was very uncomfortable because he was taken away from the breast.

“Let us leave.”

They rushed back into the car and he drove off. Thirty minutes later, he pulled up the car. He seemed to know every nook and cranny of the forest.

“Wait here.” He said and alighted. He ran into the bush.

“Do you think he is taking us back?” Aisha asked.

“After everything, he would not go back himself. He is leaving and that explains why he still has us with him,” Leena said. “ I can’t believe I am going home. My parents, Dammy….”

But Aisha wa crying. Her son. Her son was somewhere around here.

Leena remembered and stopped talking.

Bang! Bang!

They heard series of gunshots that scared them. What a violent life they lived.

Mufty appeared with a high speed, opened the passenger’s side door and quickly dropped a boy.

He ran under the wheel and started the car engine.

“Jahl is close by.” He said as he sped off.

Aisha was shocked.

Leena collected the infant at once. The boy Mufty brought looked at Aisha and cried, “Mama!”

He embraced her and started crying.

She could not talk. She hugged him so hard Leena was scared she could crush him. Was this what was called bone crushing hug?

It was so emotional.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Ice…Malern Mufty. I can never pay you back.”

He did not act as if he heard her as she kept thanking him and crying.

He kept driving until he got to appoint and stopped.

He removed a phone. Leena recognised it to be Bamba’s phone.

“Give me the number of one of your family members.”

Leena quickly gave him her father’s number.

“Tell him you are at Dale Junction.” He said. “He should hurry and pick you. You don’t have more than thirty minutes.”

She nooded.

The line connected.

“Hello.” She heard her father’s voice. A voice she never knew she would hear again. She began to cry.

“Leena?” he recognised her voice just from the sound of her cry.

“Daddy.”

“Aeesha!”The father shouted. “I have Leena on the phone.”

“Daddy we don’t have time. We escaped. Please come and pick us at Dale Junction now.”

“Okay my baby.” Her father was sobbing.

She could  hear mother say, “what did you say?” And it seemed she could not for a reply but just snatched the phone, “LeeLee?”

“Mum.”

“Ya God….”

Her father was on call with ATOF already.

Aisha was still with her son while Leena held the child.

“Please never lose contact with this child.” Mufty said.

“Take care of him. Even if he is taken to an orphanage, monitor him.”

She nodded.

“Wait, why do you talk like this? Are you not coming with us?”

“No.”

“Why? You can say you also escaped. No one will give you away.”

“ Thank you. If I was human and alive, I would have loved to be your friend…..”

She never expected such words from him, Mufty?

“why do you keep saying you are a dead man? Can’t you see that your heart is made of gold. You just made some goofs and you realised it.”

“I am worse than you think and I can never blend in with the society again. I can never live a normal life. This is how I will leave till I die, even though it will be in a different direction.”

“No, please. You can’t keep on like this. You can’t even go back.”

That is exactly what I am going to do. I am going back to Al-bait. I wiped out the dirt. They would not know it is me. I had it all figured out. I have an alibi. I still have a mission there.”

“Please…”

“I want you to know that you are the person who nearly made me feel like a human again. Beneath my heart is that pain that comes like rain, and me I disdain. Your impact on me is like breaking a spell, makes me want to tell, a story that makes me yell.

I am a broken, after my life was taken, by me for just a token. I listened to the devil’s melody that flowed so steady, until I saw no remedy.

Just leave, and get relieve and in you I believe because you have a life to retrieve.

This is the last time you will see me, but remember to pray for me, because I don’t know when it will happen to me. My regards to your family, and your fiancé and please take care of that child.”

She was now crying. She could not believe she was crying for the man who abducted her.

“Please…..”

“They are close by and you know what? Your father would report to ATOF and they would come in their readiness. They do not know if it is a hoax. Salam.”

He looked at Aisha and waved. He ran back into the bush. He had parked the car somewhere cagey. He turned and gave her a last look.

He smiled……

Mufty smiled?

She knew she would never forget that smile. She could not smile or wave back. She just cried. Immediately he left, she heard the cars coming.

It was time to go home.