Chaos

Chapter 3

He had been dispatched almost immediately to Bornu state, his Orders; to gather as much information as possible for his employers and for the millions of Nigerians who were in dire need of information no matter how small to fill their growing hunger , information that authorities were keeping a tight lead over, he had arrived at the office of the state governor as early as 9am, only to find other reporters who had beaten him to it talking excitedly while some were seen stalking around the premise begging for information from anyone who appeared to have any position of importance. Apparently a bus had conveyed an unidentified number of people believed to be the parents of some of the kidn*pped school girls under heavy military protection, the convoy had been ushered immediately into the office premise and the occupants of the bus whisked away immediately to a, 'close door' meeting with the state governor.

He exchanged a few photographs with the lady from B and C news, ordered his camera man to the most advantageous position he could find and prepared to go live.

By 11am, the Sun was threatening to roast the waiting journalist's, the government had maintained total radio silence, every outgoing vehicle was thronged upon till the soldiers had to forcibly push reporters away from the outgoing cars, one overexcited reporter received a very hot slap for deciding to block the path of all the outgoing vehicles until they were addressed by the relevant authorities, Soldiers cursed and swore, newsmen shouted random questions and the madness continued.

by 12pm, Sweat was breaking out from the faces of the waiting newsmen, Victor David of the daily times was perched on a 2ft tall wall, they were being roasted by the angry Bornu sun, the government had maintained radio silence, every incoming car was being thronged upon till the soldiers guarding the premises had to resort to force to clear the way for incoming vehicles, one rather over-excited reporter received a hot slap for standing in front of an oncoming car, insisting that he was not moving ground until they were addressed.

Soldiers cursed and swore, newsmen screamed random questions and the madness raged on till 2pm. By this time nearly all the enthusiastic ones were now covered in pools of their own sweat, still the governor and his team were nowhere in sight,.

They emerged from the close-door meeting by 3pm, followed by haggard looking parents of some of the Identified school girls, their looks portrayed visible tiredness, confusion and a general hopelessness, what would become of their children, would they be saved on time? were they still alive, they all were visibly troubled, the mothers were sobbing visibly controlled by the comforting masculine figures of their husbands, the governor himself wore a worried frown on his face, he appeared to have aged considerably in less than 72hours, he called for calm, assuring the parents and guardians that the state government was working hand in hand with both the federal and local governments, the police, the army and the air force as well as other intelligence agencies to search for and ensure the speedy recovery of the kidn*pped girls.

The atmosphere was controlled, victor frowned as he listened, this was good, but it did not make for good display, all that was needed was a small catalyst, so when one of the mother's came up to speak, Victor pounced on her,

'What is the name of your daughter madam? Do you think she could still be alive?'

That was too much for the already shaken woman, she opened her mouth, the words couldn't come, she swallowed, tried again and completely broke down allowing the tears to flow freely, others joined while reporters and their camera men clicked away.

International media was not left out, hash tags had been created, Chibouk was like the falling of small rocks that led to an avalanche, Nigeria was now the focus of international attention, every aspect, every facet of living came under scrutiny; Insecurity, dilapidating or non-existent infrastructure, Death-trap roads, crippled healthcare systems, epileptic power supply, corruption, gross mismanagement of public funds, every or more precisely only the negatives.

The hours after the meeting were among the longest that any of them parents had in a long while, their identities had been finally revealed to the hungry press. Their hotel rooms were under siege, reporters and their camera men lurked at every corner, their homes were besieged by friends, family, sympathizers and the not-so-gentle men and ladies of the press, most of this people were in fact worsening their ordeal, constantly tending and renewing the wound of their loss, reminding them, asking troubling questions.

Hadija Salamatu cried daily and refused to be consoled, the government had promised swift action, troops had been deployed to launch search and rescue operations, the president had personally promised them this on a video call, but promises were not children, in Nigeria promises from the political class meant nothing but empty wind, the promises were broken even before they were given, but the president meant this one, even if it was to be his last act as the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, he had sworn it.