INIKPI

Ayisha. The story gets more interesting.

Dr Kosofe loves good music so he ensured he had excellent Fuji, Juju and Afro Juju numbers from the leading musicians who play these genres of music with him in the vehicle before it was time to travel to Kaduna.

He nodded as the music played while his wife, seated with him at the back, preferred to sleep.

It was not until they got to Lokoja in Kogi State that Mrs. Kosofe decided she had rested enough to engage in conversation.

“What do you know of the belief that every time the thirteenth day of the any month falls on a Friday, it is an evil day?” she asked her husband.

“Well, not much apart from the fact that one of our best leaders was killed on that day in the mid 1970s.Why do you ask?”

“Today is Friday the thirteenth”, she replied smiling.

“It is only a superstitious belief. There is no truth whatsoever in it - at least not scientifically.”

No conversation took place again until they passed Auta Balefi in Nassarawa State at 6pm.

What looked like a military check point suddenly appeared in front of them on a lonely stretch of road surrounded by bushes. Five men dressed in Army camouflage manned it. Five cars were parked on the left side of the road but, to their surprise, all the cars were empty with none of the occupants in sight. Also, none of the men were wearing any boots but bathroom slippers.

One of the soldiers, or so they thought, flagged down their vehicle ensuring that they parked behind the last of the parked cars.

“Come down!” barked one of the men.

The driver came down first followed by the couple at the back.

Dr. Kosofe was peering through his glasses and was about to introduce himself when a hot slap landed on his face throwing the glasses far into the bush.

“If you are a Muslim, step this way,” he pointed to his right side,” and if you are not, step this way.” It was one of the men speaking.

The travelers knew instantly there was trouble.

“Egbawa o!” screamed Mrs Kosofe while attempting to dash into the bush. A vice-like grip on her arm told her the effort was a fruitless one. A little shaking ensured she stopped screaming.

The same man repeated the order. This time, his voice was louder and the tone was meaner. Dr. Kosofe moved to his right together with his wife while the driver moved to his left.

Suddenly, the sound of gunshots rented the air. The driver fell down. It was clear he was dead.

“Please…please…please… don't kill us,” pleaded Dr. Kosofe falling on his knees while his wife stood transfixed.

“There’s… there’s…there’s… money in the car boot. We can give you more if –”

“Shut up!” commanded one of the men, interrupting him. “We don’t need your money. Allah Akbar!” he shouted.

All the others responded, “Allah Akbar!”

It dawned on the couple at last. They had fallen into the hands of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

Dr. Kosofe made a last attempt to dash into the bush. He was immediately caught. In anger, one of the men slammed the butt of his rifle on his head. He passed out instantly.

******

When Dr. Kosofe came to, all attempts to see were futile. He soon discovered he had completely lost his sight.

“I am blind! I am blind!” he screamed bringing his wife to his side. She had been praying for him not to die but was surprised at the new development.

“Allah be praised! You are alive,” she said raising both hands to heaven. They were locked up in a room with twenty others.

“I can’t see! I can’t see anything!” Dr Kosofe was hysterical.

“If you don't control yourself, they will come in here and kill you,” his wife warned. That statement made Dr. Kosofe take hold of himself at once.

A truck parked inside the bush, near the roadblock, had carried them alongside the occupants of the five cars they had come to meet, for hundreds of kilometers inside the bush stopping after many hours in a camp containing a hostel divided into six small rooms. Each room contained twenty hostages.

Mrs Kosofe laid her husband’s head on her lap while sitting and resting her back on the wall urging him to relax.

“Allah will see us through this,” she consoled. The others, also confused and alarmed, were taking stock. All were weeping quietly. None of them had bargained for what they were currently experiencing. They remained that way till the following day when the women were separated from the men. Women occupied four of the six rooms which had just enough space for each of them to sit down and little room to stretch prompting them to take turns to lie down. They were fed badly cooked beans once a day, usually at noon. The food was passed to them through a small window just large enough to pass a pot through.

The women were brought out daily, allowed to take a bath after which as many as six men forced themselves on each of them, in turn. The pain was unbearable. Only the younger, prettier ladies especially virgins, were kept for their commanders. The men were allowed to take their baths only twice a week under very tight security. Dr. Kosofe was usually led by the hand during this routine by one of his cell mates. They could use the pit latrine only once in two days and cans were kept in the rooms for them to urinate into when pressed.

Dr. Kosofe could do nothing but pray and hope. He sobbed uncontrollably along with every other person in the rooms.

The days passed quickly and they all soon lost track of time. None of them could tell the date correctly.

“So Friday the thirteenth is an evil day, after all,” Dr. Kosofe muttered to himself.

The captives spent the days telling one another the story of their lives in a weak tone. The beans they were fed just managed to keep them alive and, even then, now and again, someone died prompting the guards to open the cell door and take out the corpse.

It was hellish.

******

Government Girls Secondary School, Bama is located on the outskirts of Bornu State. With a population of over two thousand, it is clearly one of the biggest girls' only secondary schools in the state and entire Northern Region.

This is because the education of the girl child in the region is not taken seriously by many. Some were given out in marriage as early as when they were nine years old. It is not also strange for a girl child to be betrothed as soon as she was born. Female children were largely regarded as merely for procreation and child bearing so the few who sent their children to Government Girls Secondary School, Bama were the elites from Bornu and the surrounding states.

The school had four hostels. Each hostel contained about two hundred and fifty students and was a storey building with five halls containing twenty five double bunk beds with two cupboards - one for each girl, by the side of each bunk.

The school compound also contained five three-storey buildings located about half a kilometer from the hostels, for the staff. Each building contained fifteen one-bedroom flats. One flat was for each teacher. The senior staff occupied a two-bedroom bungalow each near the storey buildings.

On this particular day, the Senior Secondary School 3 students, numbering about two hundred, were returning to school to prepare for the forth coming Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (S.S.S.C.E). It was an extension period as all other students were on third term holidays.

The teachers of these students will not be going on holidays as well to ensure all uncompleted schemes of work were completed and to put finishing touches to all the students had been taught in the last six years beginning from their Junior Secondary School 1 days. Out of the six weeks meant for the holidays, the students and their teachers had observed only one week out of them and were in high spirits, hoping to ensure none of them faced the shame and indignation associated with returning to write the examination, in the event of failing to pass, at least, five subjects including the English Language, Mathematics and one science subject usually Biology or Agricultural Science.

The principal - Mrs Hassanatu John - was equally in good spirit. She was a fifty five year old career civil servant who climbed through the ranks, starting from classroom teacher, to get to where she was now.

She wanted to ensure the school set a high record academically. Things like that ensured promotion was regular with the corresponding increment in salary that went with it.

In her speech to all during the assembly session the following morning, she warned against acts capable of spoiling this noble objective and expectation from the students and urged all to brace up and meet the demands.

The same time Mrs. John was addressing the students in the assembly hall, Boko Haram elements were finalizing plans to abduct the students in the school.

******

The attack happened three nights later. While most mortals were sleeping, twenty members of the Boko Haram sect immaculately dressed in Army uniform, arrived the school compound in three luxurious buses.

Their leader for the assignment - Aminu, drove ahead in a Jeep equally dressed in Army combat gear. His well polished shoes shone brightly in the moonlight and he had on the rank of a Major.

“We have information that members of the Boko Haram sect are coming to attack your school later tonight,” he told the alert security men stationed at the gate in excellent English. After waiting a while for the information to sink in and the corresponding alarm to show, he told them they had come on a rescue mission to protect the students and staff.

A phone call woke the principal from sleep and without much ado, she approved for all the girls to be carried away to safety in the luxurious buses while, with the other teachers, she drove to Maiduguri town in two of the school’s buses.

Boko Haram elements were coming to meet an empty school, she reasoned, smiling gleefully.

It took two days for the realization to sink in. The rescue mission was, indeed, the Boko Haram attack. Parents were awe-stricken and confused. The government of President Abela found the story unbelievable and refused to respond for two weeks - time enough for the sect to get the girls deep into Sambisa forest.

Naturally, journalists feasted on the news story. The social media were not left out of the excitement and wonder the story generated.

In Sambisa, several of the girls - virgins, were selected and sent to Shekau while the commanders got one each. The foot soldiers descended on the others. Aminu, whose brain child the idea was, got two virgins for himself.

******

Mr. Enebeli Orji is incapacitated. He recently just suffered from stroke which led to half of his body being paralyzed. He, therefore, depended on his wife for almost everything. He had given all his entitlements from his office where he was a civil servant to her for her to invest in her buying and selling business. He had spent thirty three years in service out of the mandatory thirty five years before one is entitled to pension and gratuity but the management had decided to overlook the extra two years due to the ailment.

Mrs. Orji travelled from time to time to Aba, from Abuja where they were living, to buy goods which she transported to Abuja and sold for a profit.

One morning, she was at the Utako Motor Park located in the Central Business District of Abuja waiting for the luxurious bus she would be travelling in to be full. Already, over thirty persons had bought their tickets and twenty of these were seated in the bus while others were busy saying their goodbyes to their friends and relations seeing them off to the park or buying what they would eat or present to relations and friends when they arrived their different destination. Bread sellers and wrist watch dealers made a small fortune from these travelers.

The Utako Park was usually busy round the clock. This is because one bus or the other was either leaving or returning to the park. This is why hawkers and restaurant owners worked round the clock to satisfy the travelers. From time to time, the arrival or departure of a particular bus was announced over the public address system from the two storey building facing the park ground and crowded with people selling or buying tickets. Posters were pasted on the different cubicles to announce the destination on the tickets sellers, seated behind the glass partitions, were issuing.

The same time Mrs. Orji was taking her seat in the luxurious, three men dressed in babariga had signified their intention to travel to Kano. They patiently waited on the queue to get their ticket after which they ensured their rather heavy luggages were loaded onto the bus assigned for the journey before walking briskly out of the park.

Minutes later, the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) loaded among the boxes of the three men went off. The noise from the blast could be heard kilometres away.

When sanity returned from the ensuing confusion, the Police sent over twenty corpses to the morgue and over a hundred persons were hospitalized for the treatment of one injury or the other. Wares meant to be sold littered the park. It was a gory sight. The quick reaction of the Police in cordoning off two kilometers radius around the park, led to the arrest of the culprits who loaded the explosives into the bus. The way they fidgeted when the Police stopped them and their dressing gave them away.

When the bomb had gone off, Mrs. Orji died with the others in the luxurious she was to travel in which was just preparing to leave the park when the blast occurred.

The incident instantly took over the media as the news was reported locally and internationally drawing condemnation from all over the world.

Two weeks after the incident, Mrs. Orji's grieving children could not bring themselves to break the news of the incident to their ailing father. Mrs. Orji usually spent ten days, at the most, on her journeys and called several times daily to assure her family all was going well. When she did not call two days after she left home, Mr. Orji became worried and kept wondering what must have happened. With extreme labour and with a slurred voice, he expressed his fears to Amarachi - their first daughter, who was on holidays from the university.

When Amarachi, after three weeks, with tears flowing from her eyes, managed to break the news to him as he was beginning to refuse to take his medications, Mr. Orji went into a coma and never recovered. He died a week later. When he was buried three weeks later since he was a member of the Anglican Church, the mangled remains of Mrs. Orji was placed beside his in their coffin. The weeping and wailing lasted for many weeks.

******

The three suspects who planted the bomb at the Utako Park were arraigned in court weeks later but could not be convicted. Their lawyer argued that there was no penalty for terrorism in the Nigerian constitution leading to their being incarcerated indefinitely.

Indeed, over five hundred members of the Boko Haram sect were scattered all over Nigerian prisons but none had been successfully convicted.

On their way to court five weeks after the incident, members of the sect laid ambush for the vehicle conveying them and after a shootout, they over powered the Police and scurried their colleagues to safety. It was at this point President Victor Abela of Nigeria decided to involve the Army officially in the fight against the sect. He was tired of sacking one Inspector General of Police after the other. Two had been sacked already in just a year and a half.

******

Two weeks has passed since Todun and her siblings last heard from their parents. The Christmas festivity was the worst they had ever experienced. There was no celebration. If anything, the day was spent mourning. Forty eight hours after they stopped hearing from their parents, Todun had accompanied her grandfather to the Police Station to report the incident. The family, at first, suspected they may have been involved in an accident or fallen prey to armed robbers. After unending attempts to get them on phone failed, they soon stopped trying and focused more on the Police helping them unravel the mystery behind their sudden disappearance.

It took a week after the incident for the Peugeot 607 car they were travelling in to be found in the bush a distance from where their a*******n occurred. The driver’s corpse alongside six others, were also recovered and sent to the morgue in Nassarawa State but nothing was heard about the Kosofes.

The wedding was barely over before Dr. Adefila flew to Lagos to join in the search for his best friend and his wife. As soon as the news of the abandoned car and his driver’s corpse reached him, he had traveled there promptly. It was all he could do to persuade his wife not to join him there. He had managed to convince her the sight may not be palatable for a woman.

Indeed, the gory sight of his driver’s corpse riddled with bullets alongside six others, was a sight he would remember for as long as he lived.

After the usual Police routine lasting for days, he managed to secure the corpse of his driver and transported it home to his parents in Abeokuta in a chartered ambulance.

Segun, the driver, was an only son so it was all he could do to comfort his aged parents. They sobbed uncontrollably and his mother was rolling on the floor, almost naked before neighbours joined Dr. Adefila to force her indoors. His parents had hoped Segun would be around for the Christmas and New Year festivities with gifts and money, as he usually did.

Their three daughters and their husbands were around when his corpse arrived so it was one big house of mourning.

Dr. Adefila just managed to leave the following day after trying with a large effort to persuade Segun’s parents to receive some money from him. He moved like someone in a nightmare looking dazed and confused.

As for Todun and her siblings, they could not return to Australia to continue their education. Their parents' whereabouts were paramount to them and, even if they wanted to, there was no way they could get the money for the tickets. So they fasted and prayed for their safe return. The discovery of Segun's corpse had been painful but it strengthened their resolve to pray and fast the more.

******

Dr. Kosofe had not had a change of clothing since he was forced into the Boko Haram enclave just like the other victims. His hope for a miracle was fast turning into despair. The same could be said for his wife.

This was the scenario when, six months after their capture, one of the foot soldiers of the sect decided to return home earlier than usual and force himself on one of the maidens reserved for their commanders without their knowledge.

Unfortunately for him, he left the door to the room in which he took the maiden from open while he struggled with her to open her legs in the office he chose for his misadventure.

A heavy brick from Mrs Kosofe landed on his head and he passed out instantly after which she took the keys to all the rooms hanging on the wall in the main office and, with the help of those in the room she sneaked out of, opened all the doors holding the captives beginning with the one her husband was in.

She also ensured he was well seated beside her in one of the two luxurious buses the survivors crammed themselves in to make good their escape.

The drivers of the buses just drove without knowing where they were going praying and hoping they did not meet any of the militants.

Luck was on their side. They drove for about two hours before getting to a major highway some of them could recognize and headed straight for the Army barracks from where they were all taken to the Military Hospital in Abuja.

The news of their miraculous escape made the headlines in the major dailies as well as on radio and television stations locally and internationally the following day.

******

President Victor Abela has faced many challenges since he became the President of Nigeria but this was by far the biggest.

Every other President seemed to want to know what he was doing to rescue the abducted Bama Girls as the kidn*pped girls from Government Secondary School, Bama came to be known.

Civil Society groups came together and formed a coalition called Bring Back Bama Girls (BBBG). The group conveyed the parents of the kidn*pped girls to Abuja and made them join peaceful protests to Aso Rock to demand action from the President to release their daughters from their kidnappers.

Putting on red T-shirts and carrying placards with inscriptions like RESCUE OUR DAUGHTERS NOW! WE NEED ACTION NOW! and so on, they sang solidarity songs to Aso Rock and were met by the President’s Minister of Information half a kilometre from the President’s abode.

“Mr. President is deeply saddened by your predicament and is busy making sure no stone is left unturned in rescuing your children and bringing the perpetrators to book,” he explained to the agitators and pleaded with them to return to their homes.

When all pleas and entreaties failed, however, the security details attached to the villa promptly employed the use of teargas to disperse the crowd.

Naturally, this made headline news worldwide with all the leading cable news stations broadcasting the event on an hourly basis for two days.

The main opposition party - the National Advanced People’s Party (NAPP) seized the opportunity to lampoon the administration of President Abela. The chieftains of the party even invited the arrowheads of the group secretly and gave them some money in Ghana-must-go bags to increase the tempo of their protest. Some collected while others rejected the largesse.

Suddenly, the protest marches started happening fortnightly to Aso Rock with the leading opposition party ensuring that newsmen were on ground to give it maximum publicity.

Shortly afterwards, two out of the parents of the kidn*pped girls died of high blood pressure. The main opposition party again ensured this was given maximum publicity worldwide. Reporters were given sums in dollar denomination well tucked away in brown envelopes to ensure this.

******

“President Abela is really doing his best to ensure the Bama Girls are rescued and reunited with their grieving parents. The Boko Haram group is made up of a pack of cowards that will soon be dealt with.” It was Mr. Jacob Abayo, the President’s spokesman addressing newsmen for the umpteenth time on efforts the President was making to secure the release of the Bama Girls concluding with the now very popular “we are on top of the situation.”

Brown envelopes were distributed to the journalists present with special care taken to ensure it contained more than the amount the main opposition party gave them earlier. Abayo did not need to tell them what to do. They knew it was meant to ensure the speech was given prominence in their different media.

The Senate President, the senator and House of Representatives member representing Bama constituency in the National Assembly, and the Bornu State governor were other government officials who took out time to address the expectant masses that “the government is on top of the situation and there is no cause for alarm.”

At first, President Abela underestimated the Boko Haram insurgents and so, left only the Nigeria Police to go after them.

After relieving two Inspectors General of their duties in less than two years to what he considered negligence on their part without any reprieve, however, he quickly involved the armed forces.

He summoned a security meeting in Aso Rock where all the service chiefs including the Inspector General of Police were in attendance. Holding a big mug of locally brewed gin popularly called ogogoro in his right hand, he addressed the men seated around the oval table in his office in a conspiratorial tone.

“I do not believe this story that Boko Haram elements abducted some school girls. I believe the opposition political parties are trying to look for what to use to sway voters to their sides in the forthcoming election out of desperation,” he said in a down to earth manner.

The Chief of Army Staff- Gen. Salaam Abdalla, spoke first. He spoke with the accent of a Hausa man that reversed P and F.

“Your Excellency, it is wrong to assume so sir. Por your inpormation sir, I have fersonally investigated the issue and I have also sfoken to some of the farents of the abducted girls rankadede,” he said.

“I have said it severally. These Northerners give birth like rabbits and later turn around to hold us to ransom,” President Abela said.

If the Northerners among the discussants were angry at this statement by the President, they did not show it.

“How can over two hundred girls be in a school without security of any kind at a time like this, in a place like Bama?” he asked no one in particular.

He moved his mug around and took a swig. It was clear he was becoming gradually tipsy. No one spoke.

“What kind of problem is this? Is it a sin to be a President from the South?” he demanded hotly.

“Those Northerners promised to make this country ungovernable for me because I did not step down for one of their own to contest the 2003 election. Well, if they think they are undoing me, they are wrong! Boko Haram will only reduce their population to an extent I will win the next election landslide like it happened in 2003,” he stated smiling broadly.

“I shall release twenty five billion naira to you all. I want action! I repeat action!”

It was the turn of the men seated around the table to smile. They all rose to their feet and saluted the President and each promised to do their best to bring the menace of the Boko Haram sect to an end and restore peace to the country.

“More weapons will be bought to deal with the miscreants, Your Excellency,” the Minister of Defence promised and the meeting ended.

******

Two hours after the meeting with the President, the service chiefs as well as the Inspector General of Police met at the Senior Officers' Mess in Abuja.

“This money prom Mr. Fresident must be shared equally walahi,” General Abdalla stated.

All the others nodded their agreement except the Minister of Defence.

“You know my ministry is directly in charge of buying weapons, don’t you?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about that Emeka,” the Chief of Air Staff - Air Vice Marshall Musiliu Ige said.

“We can buy arms personally for our boys. Can’t we officers?”

The others all nodded their consent.

At the end, each of the officers got five billion naira lodged in his private account.

Each of them proceeded to call up his concubine as soon as the lodgment was effected in their individual private accounts. The Chief of Army Staff called up two at once. They needed to really unwind, they reasoned.

Each of the ladies knew the hotels or guest houses where to meet each of the men. After the usual romp, the least each of them got was a brand new car and a shopping bonanza in Dubai.

******

Dr. Kosofe’s wife put a call through to Todun as soon as they got to the Military Hospital in Abuja. Todun screamed with unbelief and would have joined the next available vehicle with her grandfather to the hospital but her mother warned against it.

“Just wait for us there. We will join you as soon as possible,” she said. She did not want to risk the safety of her family members in any way.

The happiness that engulfed the household of Todun's grandparents was palpable. Neighbours thronged in to hear the good news as soon as it filtered out and not one of them left without something to eat or drink. The party had just begun.

Soon, Dr. Adefila was called by Mrs. Kosofe on phone. Against all entreaties, he took a flight straight to Abuja and took a taxi straight from the airport to the hospital.

He met the Kosofes on drip. The doctor on duty advised him to give them some time to have enough rest before engaging them in any conversation. Without any sign of anger, he nodded and simply took his seat on the sofa at the reception of the hospital. He remained like this all through the night only dozing off occasionally.

Three days later, the Kosofes were told they could go home but were advised to seek further treatment especially as Dr. Kosofe still remained totally blind.

“We thank God for everything. May His name be praised,” Dr. Adefila kept repeating lifting both hands to the sky. It has been six long months since the nightmare began and, almost everyone had concluded they were dead.