Stories

The Vultures of Lumbila || Fanidh Sanogo

In the Sahel, time seemed to have frozen ever since the crusting soil’s gaps became so wide, one could smell lucifer’s dinner from the pits of hell. Cows collapsed along with acacia leaves, and vultures gained weight. Since it only rained guns these days, herd boys buried their cows and befriended the machine guns from the sky.

The Vultures of Lumbila || Fanidh Sanogo Read More »

What Will Allah Say On The Last Day? || Adekeye Lukman

“What will Allah say on the last day? The one teaching has taught the wrong thing, the ones learning have learnt the wrong thing. Who will carry this burden? What will Allah say? I never knew my husband could ever join the politicians he was fighting against. I never knew such a thing could go this wrong. May Allah forgive these children, and may their souls rest in peace.”

What Will Allah Say On The Last Day? || Adekeye Lukman Read More »

The Baobab of Waroba || Alkasim Abdulkadir

A little later, things became quiet and for some time it seemed things were back to normal but something became very clear: the Nigerian Army was no longer the greater enemy. Since the killing of the big sheikh, our friends and brothers had become our enemies. This caused a lot of in-fighting and we started attacking each other’s camps. The war became quite confusing to me. I did not know who to kill, I did not know who to trust, I did not know who wanted to kill me. I did not know who to be afraid of, or who I should run away from: I was afraid of my own shadow.

The Baobab of Waroba || Alkasim Abdulkadir Read More »

The Unwary Almajiri || Bashir Yahaya

On the tenth day after the abduction, at about 1.00 a.m., Kaushe and his men attacked the divisional police station at Gabari using Molotov cocktails and an assortment of other arms. They succeeded in overpowering the policemen on duty, breaking into the detention cells and setting all the detainees including Mallam Barau free.

The Unwary Almajiri || Bashir Yahaya Read More »