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.
It has dawned on me that the very idea is ridiculous. No one is coming to save me, be it in white clothes or otherwise. I’m doomed, Njeri. Doomed!
One day, he received a friend request from a user who went by the name Black Widow. Black Widow’s cover photo was a black flag with Arabic writings and her profile picture was of a black rose flower which appeared to be oozing blood. Salim was intrigued and he immediately accepted the friend request.
“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.”
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.
They are in prison with no bars yet others like to think that they are free when they are not because freedom entails doing what you want when you want and they do not have that. They must first report and be granted permission to do whatever they want. If that isn’t prison, what is?
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 Kenyan government, in response, dealt mercilessly with anyone suspected to be associated with the terror group. The disappearance of youths in the coastal region left the people pained, confused and afraid. One could not tell whether a missing son was in police custody or with the terrorists.
At least, Mallam Abdullahi conceded, God had been kind to him. He had lost his first daughter, but he had lived long enough to see his second daughter return to him. Her mother had not been so lucky.
Ibrahim slumped. His fellow veterans rushed towards him screaming. The last thing Ibrahim saw before he lost consciousness was the waving flag of a country that had long ago abandoned the likes of him.
