Life Of Ekene Episode 4
By Ahmed Abdulkabir
As soon as Ekene heard "let's burn the criminal", he started begging the people around to spare his life. " Madam, Oga, bros, I am not a thief o. I am innocent, my name is Ekene". One elderly man looked at Ekene, shrugged, and said "Tufiakwa! You cannot be an Igbo person. We Igbos are not criminals". Within few minutes, there were angry faces all around Ekene. Some were breathing heavily, some mothers carried their babies on their back and were cursing seriously, code switching from English to Yoruba and vice versa.
Some street touts held planks enough to build a baby cot and they were all waiting for the vigilante chief's order before they tear Ekene to shreds. " Calm down my people. As we don catch this member of badoo cult now, na to jejely use this one give example to the others " said the vigilante chief, who has already smoked two packs of Benson switch and he reeked of alomo bitters.
He continued, "we go cut him head first, before we burn him remaining parts". Ekene became even more terrified by the mention of 'cut his head'. Ekene has heard countless stories of angry mobs pouring out their anger on petty market thieves, kidnappers, and all other principals of societal vices.It doesn't always end well for the persons involved. He never imagined himself in such a situation.
One of the street touts who was obviously high on marijuana grabbed Ekene by the shirt and gave him a nodding on the nose which left Ekene bleeding from the nose. Another tout made to hit Ekene with the plank but thanks to either highness or providence, the plank missed Ekene's head. That would have dealt Ekene a fatal blow, either killing him or giving him amnesia.
Ekene became weak and exhausted, he accepted his fate. To him, he was definitely going to join his ancestors, as he saw no hope of surviving this imminent tragedy about to befall him. The vigilante chief brought out his well sharpened machete. He walked towards Ekene majestically, like a royal executioner about to slaughter the most notorious spy caught in the kingdom.
Ekene was sitting quietly, with his head bent like one awaiting the executioner's axe. The vigilante chief stood in front of him, arms akimbo, with legs spread wide like Ronaldo about to take a free kick. He raised his machete and the blue sky reflected on it. "Stop it! If you try wielding that machete, I won't hesitate to shoot you down" came the voice of an unknown fellow. That sounded like the voice of God to Ekene or the voice of an angel sent to rescue him from this army of demons.
The angry crowd tried to locate the owner of the voice and vent all their anger on him. Behold! It was a soldier. He was holding a pistol and from the look on his face, he was ready to shoot anyone that violates his direct order. He asked the angry crowd what Ekene's offence was and when they told him, he asked for Ekene's side of the story.
Ekene was vindicated as investigations revealed that he actually worked in the morgue and ran away from his duty post. The vigilante chief and his men were asked to hop like frogs by the military man, for raising a false alarm. Ekene was taken to the nearest government hospital and he was attended to. He had a deep cut in the lip, a fractured nose bone, several scratches on what used to be the spotless face of a fine Igbo man.
"If only I had money, maybe this wouldn't have happened to me" Ekene said to himself. "How are you feeling now Mr. Ekene? asked nurse Aisha, a tall, slim and very beautiful woman from the north. " I am feeling better now, thank you ", replied Ekene. During Ekene's short stay in the hospital, nurse Aisha kept him company and they became very close. Ekene was discharged and nurse Aisha drove him home in her car. Ekene's friends have been searching for him for four days. They were planning to report a case of a missing person when Ekene and nurse Aisha entered.
" O boy! Who attacked you like this?" asked Abu. "Which person wife you go snatch?" added Kunle, staring at nurse Aisha. "O boy! Bone that stuff, I no follow person wife, na long story" said Ekene in defence. The two men stared at Ekene, suspicion was clearly written all over their faces. When they noticed that nurse Aisha was uneasy, they tried to change the topic. "Arsenal lose again yesterday o" said Kunle. There was no reply and Ekene didn't show any sign of interest as well. After a long moment of silence, Kunle and Abu excused Ekene and his guest.
Few minutes later, Aisha started complaining of heat, even when Kunle's air conditioner was at its highest. She was uneasy and kept complaining. "Oops! There's something crawling on my back. Can you help me check it out please?"said nurse Aisha.
By Ahmed Abdulkabir
As soon as Ekene heard "let's burn the criminal", he started begging the people around to spare his life. " Madam, Oga, bros, I am not a thief o. I am innocent, my name is Ekene". One elderly man looked at Ekene, shrugged, and said "Tufiakwa! You cannot be an Igbo person. We Igbos are not criminals". Within few minutes, there were angry faces all around Ekene. Some were breathing heavily, some mothers carried their babies on their back and were cursing seriously, code switching from English to Yoruba and vice versa.
Some street touts held planks enough to build a baby cot and they were all waiting for the vigilante chief's order before they tear Ekene to shreds. " Calm down my people. As we don catch this member of badoo cult now, na to jejely use this one give example to the others " said the vigilante chief, who has already smoked two packs of Benson switch and he reeked of alomo bitters.
He continued, "we go cut him head first, before we burn him remaining parts". Ekene became even more terrified by the mention of 'cut his head'. Ekene has heard countless stories of angry mobs pouring out their anger on petty market thieves, kidnappers, and all other principals of societal vices.It doesn't always end well for the persons involved. He never imagined himself in such a situation.
One of the street touts who was obviously high on marijuana grabbed Ekene by the shirt and gave him a nodding on the nose which left Ekene bleeding from the nose. Another tout made to hit Ekene with the plank but thanks to either highness or providence, the plank missed Ekene's head. That would have dealt Ekene a fatal blow, either killing him or giving him amnesia.
Ekene became weak and exhausted, he accepted his fate. To him, he was definitely going to join his ancestors, as he saw no hope of surviving this imminent tragedy about to befall him. The vigilante chief brought out his well sharpened machete. He walked towards Ekene majestically, like a royal executioner about to slaughter the most notorious spy caught in the kingdom.
Ekene was sitting quietly, with his head bent like one awaiting the executioner's axe. The vigilante chief stood in front of him, arms akimbo, with legs spread wide like Ronaldo about to take a free kick. He raised his machete and the blue sky reflected on it. "Stop it! If you try wielding that machete, I won't hesitate to shoot you down" came the voice of an unknown fellow. That sounded like the voice of God to Ekene or the voice of an angel sent to rescue him from this army of demons.
The angry crowd tried to locate the owner of the voice and vent all their anger on him. Behold! It was a soldier. He was holding a pistol and from the look on his face, he was ready to shoot anyone that violates his direct order. He asked the angry crowd what Ekene's offence was and when they told him, he asked for Ekene's side of the story.
Ekene was vindicated as investigations revealed that he actually worked in the morgue and ran away from his duty post. The vigilante chief and his men were asked to hop like frogs by the military man, for raising a false alarm. Ekene was taken to the nearest government hospital and he was attended to. He had a deep cut in the lip, a fractured nose bone, several scratches on what used to be the spotless face of a fine Igbo man.
"If only I had money, maybe this wouldn't have happened to me" Ekene said to himself. "How are you feeling now Mr. Ekene? asked nurse Aisha, a tall, slim and very beautiful woman from the north. " I am feeling better now, thank you ", replied Ekene. During Ekene's short stay in the hospital, nurse Aisha kept him company and they became very close. Ekene was discharged and nurse Aisha drove him home in her car. Ekene's friends have been searching for him for four days. They were planning to report a case of a missing person when Ekene and nurse Aisha entered.
" O boy! Who attacked you like this?" asked Abu. "Which person wife you go snatch?" added Kunle, staring at nurse Aisha. "O boy! Bone that stuff, I no follow person wife, na long story" said Ekene in defence. The two men stared at Ekene, suspicion was clearly written all over their faces. When they noticed that nurse Aisha was uneasy, they tried to change the topic. "Arsenal lose again yesterday o" said Kunle. There was no reply and Ekene didn't show any sign of interest as well. After a long moment of silence, Kunle and Abu excused Ekene and his guest.
Few minutes later, Aisha started complaining of heat, even when Kunle's air conditioner was at its highest. She was uneasy and kept complaining. "Oops! There's something crawling on my back. Can you help me check it out please?"said nurse Aisha.
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