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THE CHRONICLES OF A GHOST TOWN

[A True Life Story]

Prologue Part I:

A Storm Approaching…

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This is dedicated to three of my dearest friends who lost their

lives to the murderous rampage going on in Maiduguri. May their

souls rest in perfect peace!

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Prologue [Part I]

September 29, 2012.

I remember waking up feeling excited. I always feel

excited when I have a studio session and that Saturday was

no different. It was the first job (I‟m a music producer and

an Engineering student) I was taking on since resumption

and so, I was feeling more excited than usual. The semester

was still young and the past few weeks had already been

quite eventful. Academic activities were lazily picking up

pace and I was making plans to start studying by the next

week. I haven‟t been too serious with my academics

recently and my performance hasn‟t been up to my

standards. „This semester is going to be different!‟ I promised

myself and I really meant it.

A cock crowed somewhere nearby and jolted me out of

my reverie. Lazily and quite reluctantly, I opened my eyes

(I love sleeping and so I always find it difficult to leave my

bed). My room was unusually quiet and it took a while for

my brain to boot.

„Where is everyone?‟ I thought to myself. I usually wake up

to the sound of Abdul and Halima‟s voice cheerfully

chatting or having one of their funny arguments. I smiled

at that thought. They were one of a kind! Most people still

believed them to be siblings and they helped spread the

rumours themselves (they really enjoyed doing that). It

didn‟t help matters that they closely resembled one another.

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Abdul and Halima have been inseparable from the time

they got to know one another. That they would end up

dating each other had always been evident to me even

though, Abdul always swore that it would never happen. I

laughed to myself as I started going down memory lane.

Abdul was my closest friend and so, I knew him just as

much as he knew me, we could always tell when one was

lying to himself. Soo many escapades we‟d had and…

Boooooom!!! A distant explosion rattled my window pane

softly as the shockwaves from miles away reached my

room. I sighed to myself and lazily rolled out of bed.

Maiduguri was getting worse by the day and the whole

world didn‟t seem to care anymore. The sound of gunshots

and explosions were now as common as cock crows and

we‟d all gotten used to it. Every day was on orgy of blood

shed between the warring factions in the state and the

innocent citizens of Maiduguri were hopelessly caught up

in the crossfire. The body count would probably be running

into thousands if the media were to be truthful in their

reports and the majority of the people slain were people

who were in no way related to the fighting. Innocent

passers-by when a bomb exploded, more innocent passers-

by when the inevitable gun battle that ensues after an

explosion erupts, targeted assassinations, factor in all these

things and the body count in a day would quickly be

running into hundreds. At night, numerous assassination

gangs plagued the city and every morning, countless people

would‟ve been slain for one sentimental reason or the other.

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Most times, these vilians would lay waste a whole family,

sometimes sparing only the women. These were stories we

heard every day and what more, every once in a while, one

of these numerous innocents would be someone you knew.

This was the Maiduguri we were living in and the future

wasn‟t looking positive.

Why then, you may ask, were we still in Maiduguri?

Why have parents been allowing their kids to continue

schooling in a war torn state. For many of the ordinary

citizens, Maiduguri was and is the only place they have

ever known. Most people literally have nowhere to run to.

Furthermore, the crisis rocking the state capital has largely

been isolated to certain areas such as the Custom and

Gonge wards, and though there was usually some spill over

violence, one was usually safe if he or she avoided those

areas prone to crisis. The things to fear for most people

were the numerous assassination gangs that plagued the

city at night seemingly un-encumbered by the dusk till

dawn curfew in place. These blood-suckers were the real

terror for most people living in the state capital for they

caused people sleepless nights, as no one could predict

where they would strike next. Still, there was a pattern to

the madness and their areas of operation were usually

limited to certain places. In these areas, terror rained

supreme. Suffice to say, some of us such as the university

students and lecturers stayed on because our campus was

situated in an area that had, by the mercies of God, not

been over-ridden by the violence engulfing the state. Since

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the dawn of the crisis a few years back, places like the

Unimaid campus, old and new G.R.A, Pompumari and so

on, have had almost a zero occurrence of violence. These

could be attributed to many things such as the calibre of

people living in these places [by calibre, I mean people, both

Muslims and Christians, that are largely educated] and so

on but I would rather attribute it to the mercies of God.

Thus, we all continued schooling with the hope that the

status quo would remain un-altered for if we stuck to our

campus, we were largely safe from the violence. The only

problem was when you inevitably had to go to town for

some business [such as going to the banks]. Going into

town in Maiduguri was more like gambling for you never

knew where or when the next battle may erupt. You could

literally walk right into a bomb explosion or a shoot-out

between the warring factions and so, it was always a risky

business that was best avoided. So, we stuck to our campus

and the surrounding areas of the university and we were

relatively safe. Still, we were very much aware of the

carnage going on for we could hear and feel the bombs

exploding on a daily basis in town, as well as the gunshots

that seemed to be a constant background chatter.

I pushed all these thoughts out of my mind as I

quickly took a shower and got ready to go out. Still

wondering where they were, I looked out of my window

hoping to see Halima‟s car. Not there. I picked up my

phone and was about dialling Abdul‟s number when I

suddenly remembered that they hadn‟t spent the night in

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my place. „Fool!‟ I jokingly cursed myself for being so

forgetful. It wasn‟t entirely my fault [I am actually a really

forgetful person though] for I was so used to having them

around and so it was entirely plausible for me to find their

absence weird. Abdul and Halima had been spending most

of their nights in my place on campus since we resumed

this semester. My mum didn‟t mind having Halima over in

our house anytime for she knew the nature of our

friendship as being just really good friends. We had rented

a place for Abdul in the 202 housing estate opposite the

university campus a year back and the rent had just expired.

Thus, he was staying with me full-time until we could find

a place for him. We‟d decided that he should move in to

campus for though the areas surrounding the university

such as the 202 and 303 hosing estate were relatively safe,

the violence in the state had been steadily escalating and we

were all beginning to be uncomfortable with being

anywhere other than school. Halima was also trying to get

a space in one of the new girls hostels [some of the girls

hostel blocks in Unimaid are quite comfortable to live in

unlike most of the boys‟ hostels. Thus, ladies were usually

quite content with taking up accommodations in school]

but until then, she usually slept over whenever it go too late

to go back to the family house in town for there was a

curfew in place and night wasn‟t a time to be moving

around in a place like Maiduguri anyways. Thus, every

night was usually fun in my house with Abdul and Halima

around, cheerfully gisting, playing „call of duty‟ on the x-

box 360 or doing some other crazy thing.

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Last night however, Abdul and Halima had gone to

sleep over in Halima‟s family house in town and so I had

spent the night alone. I checked my time. I needed to be on

the move. My phone rang and slightly startled me. I picked

the phone and answered,

„Hello‟ I said.

„Von-D how far now, I still dey wait for you O!‟ Mykebo‟s

voice replied on the other end.

„No vex abeg, I don already leave house‟

„No wahala… Ina jiran ka dan Allah. Ka jii ko oga!‟ said

Mykebo. I chuckled when he called me „oga‟.

„Habba mana… no dey call me oga abeg. You know say na

you be boss‟ I chipped back. And so we continued, until we

got tired of calling each other „oga‟. I dropped the call after

promising to be at the studio in ten minute.

The studio was just a 5-minutes‟ walk from my house.

Opposite the school park, it was situated right at the heart

of the students‟ off-campus residential area. It was however

not well known and that suited me just fine for I tend to

like serene environments. I had only recently begun

working with the studio just after my friend Mykebo took

over management of the studio. In the few weeks or

months we had spent running it, we‟d managed to churn

out quite a number of songs and some of them were quite

popular with the students. I went through a check-list of

the things I needed to do for the day in my head as I walked

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deliberately slowly to the studio. I needed to call A-maz, I‟d

already called Dino and told him to meet me at the studio, I

needed to call Abdul and Halima too. I put off calling

Abdul and Halima for I guessed that they would sooner or

later come to look for me wherever I was.

I felt queer as I stepped out of the university gates.

There was always a feeling of danger that came over you

these days whenever one stepped out of the university

campus. A military van sped past as I was about to cross,

closely followed by an armoured car. The soldiers in the

leading van where all wearing some sort of masks,

fashioned out of red handkerchiefs and camouflage

material. They looked like ninja‟s in camouflage wielding

guns and cutlasses. It almost looked like a scene straight out

of a Holy-wood movie. Civilians hurriedly moved aside to

create a path for the military convoy. I shook my head and

sighed. Soldiers in Maiduguri had become like demi gods,

having the power to do and undo. Military blockades

covered every nook and cranny in the state, causing a

traffic bottleneck that choked and almost ground to a halt

the already dysfunctional economy of the state. The

soldiers themselves… well more on that some other time. I

watched the convoy disappear in the distance and the

familiar ache and sadness over the current state of affairs

returned to my heart. Traffic returned to normal after the

passage of the military convoy and I crossed the road and

hurriedly walked to the studio.

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Deep breath! I closed my eyes and savoured the feeling

of being in the dark studio. Mykebo was outside fiddling

with the gen, trying to make it come alive. Here at least, is

a place where I could get lost in my own world, creating

tunes while remaining oblivious to the carnage and

madness that was raging on all around me. And lost did I

get, for I completely lost track of time as I immersed myself

in the song we were trying to compose. The next time I

checked my wrist watch, it was already past four in the

evening and that was late by Maiduguri standards. Dino

had at some point joined us in the studio and he was

heartily gisting with Mykebou and Sammy. I needed to get

moving. I closed my eyes and absent mindedly played some

chords on the Yamaha PSR keyboard in front of me.

„Von D. We go enter beach today abi?‟ The sound of my

name jolted me back to reality. Dino obviously had plans

for the evening. I however was feeling a little bit downcast

for no reason and so I wasn‟t in a „going out‟ mood.

„Men Dino, I dey on a low o! I no too hold bar like that…

Abi you gallant?‟ I replied.

„Bros, you know how things be now… Me self I dey empty.‟

Dino said.

„See your head… you wey just come back from jay yesterday.

You wan tell me say u no hold ground? Gerrout jor!‟ I scrawled

my face to make him believe I was serious.

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Dino laughed for he saw through the ruse. I heartily

joined him and the conversation so0n turned to more trivial

things.

„How far now, I never see Shizzy and Heych today o!‟

someone said.

„Me self… dem suppose block me for studio but I never hear

from them. I sure say they don go relax for one joint now na why I

never see them. If they enter area sha I know say dem go find me‟

was my reply.

„I suppose call Shizzy self‟ I said again. I picked up my

phone but changed my mind for no apparent reason. I

reasoned that Abdul [Shizzy] was probably not nearby and

so I made up my mind to call him later.

„Abi make we go track them for 202?‟ Dino asked me

again.

„Emmm… make we go ATM first abeg. E be like say I get

some small change for account. We fit use am flex small if we jam

with them… At least, make we no dull ourselves now. How you

see am?‟

„Idiot! So you get money self. See your head.‟ Dino fired at

me.

I laughed at him and stood up, hailed everyone and

stepped out of the studio. Dino was right behind me and we

briskly strolled into school, all the while, talking about

music and other random stuff. Ten minutes later, I had

withdrawn the little cash I had in my account and was

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contemplating going into 202 with Dino to meet up with

Abdul and Halima. I was however, still feeling a little

down and so I changed my mind and decided to head home.

Dino was disappointed for he had wanted us to hang out a

bit before it got late. I shared the little money I had with

him and we parted ways.

I walked home slowly, enjoying the cool evening

breeze. The university campus was after all, quite serene.

One often forgot that he was in Maiduguri when on

campus, except for the distant sounds of bomb blasts and

gunshots that occasionally pierced the otherwise calm

environment. I stopped by briefly at a shop to buy some

packets of Indomie. Abdul [Shizzy] and Halima [Heych]

were definitely going to meet me at home sooner or later

and they would definitely be famished as usual. Got home

by about 6:00pm and turned on our generating set. I lay

down on my bed and played around with my phone, all the

while expecting to hear the familiar hum of the engine of

Halima‟s car driving into our compound. A-maz and Alfred

[Ola-Blaq] came over at some point, and we all settled

down to play some soccer [PES 2011 I think].

I think I dozed off for a while. It seemed more like

5minutes to me but when I looked at my watch, it was

already around 9:00 o‟clock. A-maz [Steven] and Alfred

[Ola-Blaq] had already left for home. I checked my phone

and saw about 5 missed calls. Snazzy!

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I sighed to myself and lazily stretched on the bed.

Where was Abdul [Shizzy] and Halima [Heych]? It was

already past curfew time and I still hadn‟t heard from them

all day. It was a little bit queer that Snazzy would be calling

me so many times at such a time in the night. I was

beginning to get a bad feeling. I picked up my phone and

dialled Snazzy‟s number.

„Snazzy, how far now?‟

„Von D... e get one funny rumour wey just dey fly around o!

I no know wether you fit clarify am for me?‟ Snazzy‟s voice was

shaky at the other end of the line and I immediately sensed

that something was wrong.

„Guy, wetin happen? Tell me wetin you hear…‟

„Men…Person just call me now dey tell me say…Shizzy and

Heych were found covered in blood in 202…‟

…my mind went blank. I felt dizzy and my room

suddenly felt icy cold. I chuckled and thought to myself it

was just a joke… or was it not? A storm was approaching

and I wasn‟t sure I had the fortitude to get through it.

* * * * *

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Prologue Part II:

Things Fall Apart…

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September 30, 2012.

I was shivering. I wasn‟t feeling cold but I kept

shivering. It was about 12:20am or so and my room seemed

darker than usual. Snazzy‟s call a few hours ago had sent

chills running down my spine. Shizzy [Abdul], Heych

[Halima], found covered in blood… I chuckled to myself. It

seemed to me that Snazzy must have over-dozed on

something, and I wasn‟t finding it funny at all. I‟d already

spent the past one or two hours making phone calls, trying

to put together a picture of what was happening, but all I‟d

gotten were vague answers and lots of speculation. I sighed

to myself and adjusted my blanket. Strangely enough, I

wasn‟t scared, sad or even feeling any emotion at all. I just

had a cold, grey emptiness slowly engulfing me, my mind

thinking clearly and methodically going through all

possible scenarios, weighing all my options, deciding what

needed to be done. Looking back now, I think it was God,

who held back the floodgates of emotions from

overwhelming me that night for I needed to be strong for

what lay ahead.

I picked up my phone and dialled D2‟s[Yakubu]

number. For one thing, he was the only person that I could

trust to give me a true and detailed account of what was

going on. D2 was blood, and one of the few people that held

my confidence. We had a history together too and he was

one of the artists signed to I and Shizzy‟s record label

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„„Sound Unit‟‟. His house was on the same street with

Shizzy‟s apartment in 202 and so I expected him to be

abreast of whatever was going on in that area.

„The number you have dialled is unavailable at the moment,

please try again later‟. I sighed to myself. I‟d lost count of the

number of times I‟d dialled D2‟s number, and I was getting

frustrated with the automated message that kept playing

each time. Where was D2 when I needed him? I scrolled

through the contacts on my phone and dialled A-maz‟s

number. He needed to know what was happening.

I closed my eyes and slowed down my breathing,

trying to calm myself for the adrenaline in my bloodstream

was making me really nervous. The wind was whistling

eerily outside and I tried to imagine the scenery that had

just been described to me by Snazzy. I had a duty to call

Shizzy‟s parents to let them know what was happening but

I didn‟t have the guts to. What was I going to tell them?

Besides, I didn‟t even believe that Shizzy and Heych were

dead anyways and so…

The door of my room burst open as Shizzy and Heych

rushed into my room in their usual jovial manner. Heych

jumped on me and started tickling me until I was nearly out

of breath.

„Guy how far now? You don dey crash already?‟ Shizzy

asked as he helped to drag Heych off me. She was giggling

uncontrollably and she was obviously having a good time

torturing me.

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„Meeeeeen…where una dey since now? You know the kind

rumours wey don dey fly around? I‟ve been really worried O!‟ I

replied when I regained my breath. I felt like a heavy

burden had just been lifted off my back. I‟d never been

happier to see Shizzy and Heych.

„Haba Dee… Stop looking so serious now! Wetin you hear

like dis wey dey make you fear?‟ asked Heych with a puzzled

expression on her face.

„Boys just dey call me dey tell me some kind fuuny things o!

Say una don fall for 202… you and Shizzy… covered in blood or

something like that.‟

Abdul chuckled in his usual self-confident manner,

„Guy… how you go ever believe say I don fall ehn? Abi no be me

dey your front like dis? Abeg jor, on Xbox for us make we tan

“Call-Of-Duty” small jare…‟

I smiled as I lazily stretched to turn on the game console.

All was well after all…

The sound of distant gunshots jolted me awake. I

sighed to myself and realized that I had just been dreaming.

I was half awake and I was finding it difficult to

differentiate my dreams from reality. Was I even dreaming

at all?

The rest of my night was spent drifting in and out of

sleep, each-time having a different dream about Shizzy and

Heych… They all seemed so real! I finally got frustrated by

the dreams and forced myself out of bed. I checked the time

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and it was already about 5:00am. Curfew was not going to

be over until 6:00am but I couldn‟t wait till then. I needed

to get to the bottom of all the rumours once and for all and

so, I hurriedly cleaned up, put on some clothes and got

ready to leave home. I silently snuck into my sister‟s room

and gently woke her up.

„Jay!‟ I whispered, „I‟m going out and I‟m not following you

guys to church. I‟m hearing some rumours that Abdul and Halima

were killed in 202 and I need to go and find out what‟s happening.

Help me tell mum coz I don‟t wanna wake her up!‟

Julie was speechless…I didn‟t wait for her to reply as I

briskly walked out of her room, out of the house and into

the darkness outside. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach

that I was going to have an awful day.

Walking has always been a way of making myself

think and that morning was no different. What was I going

to do? I‟d already made up my mind that I was not going

back home until I had found Shizzy and Heych, and put an

end to the silly rumours going around. It still wasn‟t 6:00am

yet and it was a risky business going out in Maiduguri

during curfew hours. You would definitely be shot down by

the JTF if you were found violating the curfew in place. I

knew the risks but I could no longer sit at home and do

nothing. I walked briskly towards Gate-4 while trying to

formulate a rational plan in my mind. Heych‟s brother,

Umar was living in 303 and I knew that if anything had

happened to Heych, he would be on top of the situation. I

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needed to see A-maz first however before going over to

Umar‟s place. I needed a brother by my side and I knew

that A-maz would stand right by me.

I made it to A-maz‟s compound without being shot.

He was already waiting for me and from the expression on

his face; I could tell that he hadn‟t slept too well either. It

was a melancholic gathering, as we all sat down [I, A-maz

and Blaq] in silence. No one had the will to say anything.

Words weren‟t needed to express the grief and gloom in the

atmosphere.

„Von… How do we confirm any of this now?‟ Blaq asked

me.

„Meen…make curfew finish make we enter Umar side. I‟ve

been unable to get him since yesterday…‟ I said with a heavy

sigh.

I was lost in my thoughts when A-maz called me out

so we could head out. It was time to find out the truth!

* * * * * *

We arrived at Umar‟s house at some time after

6:00am. A-maz re-adjusted his parking while I quietly

walked into the compound and headed towards Umar‟s

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room. A few guys were hanging around door and it seemed

strange that no one was talking to anyone.

“Where is Umar abeg?” I asked one of the guys hanging

by the door. I got silence for an answer. I brushed past the

guy and made my way into Umar‟s room. The sight that

greeted me was heart-rending and the worst of my fears

were confirmed in an instant. Mama [Heych‟s immediate

Younger sister] was weeping un-controllably on the floor.

Some other guy was sitting at the other end of the room, a

pained expression on his face. He was obviously at a loss of

words to comfort Mama. Holding back my own tears, I

rushed to her side and hugged her… I was also at a loss of

words to console her too. It tore me inside to know that

there was nothing I could do at that moment to spare her

the grief that was definitely eating her up. The other guy in

the room, who was Umar‟s roommate, spoke up;

“Von-D, where‟ve you been now?”

“Bro…na curfew hold me for inside school O! Where Umar

enter now?” I asked.

“He just left like 10 minutes ago. He said he was going to

look for you at home”

“Give me his number abeg…”

I collected Umar‟s number from him and dialled it.

Umar confirmed to me that he had just entered the school

campus and was heading towards my house. We set up a

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rendezvous and I reluctantly left Mama in the care of

Umar‟s roommate.

I met with Umar just outside the school main gate. His

eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and it was obvious that he

had had a long night. I shook his hand and gave him a bro

hug. We stood in silence just staring at each other, neither

of us having the will to speak up… I was praying a silent

prayer, pleading with the Most-High to wake me up, for I

was trying hard to convince myself that it was just another

nightmare.

„Von-D… Where is your friend now?‟

Umar‟s question took me aback. What in the world did

he mean by where is my friend? He was obviously referring

to Shizzy and my mind couldn‟t comprehend what he was

trying to imply. A faint glimmer of hope sprang in my

heart.

„Wetin you mean by “where is my friend?” I thought he was

with Heych last night when…‟ I couldn‟t bring myself to

complete the sentence. Umar‟s expression was grim.

„He wasn‟t with Heych last night o! We found Heych with

one other guy last night covered in blood and we haven‟t seen

Shizzy since. People think the other guy is Shizzy but we actually

don‟t know who it is. Nobody was able to identify him.‟ I was

beginning to comprehend the complexity of the situation

and I could see why he had rushed to my place first thing

after curfew. If Shizzy had somehow managed to survive, I

would have been the first person he would have gone to and

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so it made sense that Umar would come to me first. My

heart began to race and despite the gloom around me; I felt

a sudden warmth surge through my heart. So my wing-man

wasn‟t dead after all. Shizzy was the toughest guy I knew

and I was sure that there was no way he would‟ve gone

down easily.

„I never hear from Shizzy o! I was thinking that he was the

one with Heych last night‟ I said.

„Men!‟ Umar sighed. Things were getting really

complicated.

„I need to send Mama home... She‟s too traumatized and I

can‟t let her stay here. She needs to be where she‟ll be looked

after.‟

Umar was right. We needed to make arrangements to

take Mama home. I was still desperate to get the details of

what had transpired the previous night but I was not

willing to put Umar through the ordeal of recounting such a

story to me, at such a delicate time. Umar joined us in A-

maz‟s car and we headed for his house to make

arrangements for Mama‟s departure.

„Last night was awful man.‟ Umar spoke up.

„What really happened bro? I tried to reach you last night

but I apparently had a wrong number.‟

„Some soldiers came to my house last night around like

9:00pm in the night to tell me that they had just found my sister

dead. I nearly fainted‟ I could see the sorrow in Umar‟s eyes

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as he tried to fill me in. „No one really knows what happened, I

just know that some unidentified people murdered them… I spent

the whole of last night getting Halie to the hospital and answering

questions at the Police station. I am even supposed to report there

this morning self.‟

„...and you said that no one knows where Shizzy is? I

needed to be sure.

„Yes bro…I really need you to help me look for him. I believe

he‟s the only one that can let us know what really happened.‟ I

could see that Umar was also really hopeful.

„Ok here‟s what we‟ll do. You take Mama home and then

report to the police station. I‟ll go into 202 and do everything I can

to find Shizzy. Just make sure that you keep me informed on any

developments on your side.‟ I said to Umar.

„Aite bro… I‟ll keep ya posted.‟

We [I, A-maz and Blaq] dropped Umar at his house

and headed back for A-maz‟s place. A lot of questions were

swirling through my mind. Who would want to kill

Halima? Was Shizzy Alive? If yes then why hadn‟t he

looked for me? Were things so bad that he could not afford

to contact me? Was he too injured to make it to my place

last night? Was he hiding somewhere and if so, where

could he be hiding? Why couldn‟t he…. I had a million

questions running through my mind.

„Oh God please let him be alive…please Lord! Please please

please…‟ was the silent prayer echoing in my heart. I tried to

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be rational. I needed to let Shizzy‟s parents know what was

happening. I needed to find D2 too, for he would have

known what had transpired the previous night. I also

needed to find I.B and Ayo, for they stayed in the same

compound with Shizzy and it was Ayo who had originally

discovered the corpses, according to Umar.

We got back to A-maz‟s place at probably around

7:00am. The ride back home had been awfully silent as each

one of us had been lost in his own thoughts, pleading with

God for the safety of our dear friend. The fact that Shizzy

was probably alive had lit a fire within me and I

immediately set to work, making phone-call after phone-

call, trying to piece together the events of the previous

night. I finally had to make the most difficult phone call of

my life…

„Hello…Good morning daddy‟ I greeted Shizzy‟s dad. I

knew he had sensed something was wrong but he didn‟t

push me.

„Morning my son… How have you been?‟ came his reply at

the other end of the line.

„Daddy we have a problem o!‟ My voice was really shaky;

„Halima was murdered last night in Abdul‟s house with one other

boy but we don‟t know who it is. We have been looking for Abdul

since last night….‟

The silence at the other end of the line was deafening.

I lack words to express how much pain was communicated

to me in that brief moment of silence. I had gone straight to

25

the point coz Shizzy‟s dad was a military man and so I

believed that he would‟ve been capable of bearing the news.

Furthermore, I couldn‟t bring myself to call Shizzy‟s mum

and tell her that her son was missing; I didn‟t just have the

courage to do that. Looking back now I think I might have

delivered the news in an insensitive way. Shizzy‟s parents

and Heych‟s parents had gotten to know each other quite

well because of their children‟s relationship. Heych had

even spent a few days of her previous holiday in Shizzy‟s

house in Abuja and her mum had become quite close to

Shizzy‟s mum. The news of Heych‟s death must have hit

Shizzy‟s dad really hard for she was like a daughter to him.

„Tell me the truth Damsha… Is Abdul dead? Just tell me the

truth…‟ There was much distress in his voice.

„Daddy I can‟t lie to you about something like this… I‟m

really worried coz I haven‟t heard from him since yesterday.‟

„…ok. Don‟t call Abdul‟s mum yet. She won‟t be able to bear

it. I‟ll be the one to tell her. I‟ll send some soldiers to meet you so

that you people can look for Abdul…please my son, I need you to

do everything you can to find him‟

„Ok sir… I‟ll do my best I promise!‟

The sun was just coming up and the town was

unusually quiet. I paced up and down trying to calm myself

down. A-maz was sitting by the varenda, a serene look on

his face. Blaq was leaning by the car, absent-mindedly

fiddling with something in his hand. The news and reality

of Heych‟s death was beginning to sink in, and the pain

26

that followed this realization was too much for us to bear.

Heych, oh sweet Halima! My heart ached as I thought of

her beautiful smile and her fragile physique. There was

simply no other girl like her in the whole wide world and

anyone who had known her would testify to that. Jovial

and gregarious, stubborn, strong-willed and extremely self-

confident yet, humble, caring and extremely generous. She

was a perfect mix of opposite qualities and she had

something about her that made you just love her. Tom-

boyish in nature and probably the best female rapper in

Unimaid, one could probably never guess that she was an

indigene of Borno state from the prestigious family of the

Damcida‟s. Heych was easily Unimaid‟s most popular girl

and her „reps‟ in school was unquantifiable. Heych was one

word; Awesome! That anyone would want to harm her was

simply unthinkable for me. I felt empty and I knew that I

would probably never recover from the loss.

Where was Shizzy then? And where was D2 anyway?

Could D2 have been the guy murdered with Heych? Highly

unlikely for if he had been the one found with her, Umar

and many other people would have instantly recognized

him. I needed to find D2 for he was perhaps the only one

who could point me in the right direction. I made up my

mind to head into 202 and meet up with I.B so I could get

proper eyewitness accounts. I would head to D2‟s place

from there and one way or the other, get to the bottom of

all that was happening. I told A-maz I needed to borrow his

27

car and he gladly gave me the keys. I was almost at the

door of A-maz‟s car when my phone rang;

„I.B. wassup man‟ I spoke into my mouthpiece. „I‟m

headed over to your place right now…hope you‟re home.‟

„Yeah sure…ummm… Von-D something really bad just

happened man…I dunno how to tell you this.‟ I felt like my heart

just dropped out of my chest. „Shizzy was just found in the

same compound… He is dead bro! He‟s gone…‟

I.B was sobbing at the other end of the line. For

me…life had just changed permanently. I looked at A-maz

and broke the news to him…I didn‟t wait to see his reaction.

I jumped into the car and zoomed off. Shizzy was not dead

and there was no way I would ever believe that! Even as I

headed for I.B‟s place, I knew deep within me that the

course of my life had been irreversible altered. My life was

literally falling apart.

28

THE CHRONICLES OF A GHOST TOWN

[A True Life Story]

Prologue Part III:

The Eye of The Storm…

29

Prologue [Part III]

September 30, 2012.

What do you do when you are told that your closest

friend has been murdered? For me, I just did not believe it.

I was driving slowly, absent-mindedly chewing hard on my

finger and heading towards I.B‟s apartment. My mind was

blank… my phone was continuously ringing but I kept

ignoring it. My mum had called a few minutes back and she

had been devastated to learn that Halie was dead. She‟d

wanted to come over immediately and meet me but I

insisted that she go to church and that I would update her

whenever anything came up. In-between sobs, she kept

asking about Abdul and I kept reassuring her that Abdul

was alright and that I was doing my best to locate him.

Was that a lie? I don‟t think so for I actually did not believe

that Shizzy was dead. I was never going to believe that

unless I saw and held him myself. Slowly, reality began to

sink in and for the first time since the previous night, I

began to truly contemplate the possibility and implications

of Abdul‟s death and the enormous responsibility that was

going to fall on my head. Emotions were beginning to

churn within me and it took a huge effort to bottle them in,

for I needed to be strong for what lay ahead.

I got to I.B‟s residence and found him sitting outside.

I.B‟s was looking dejected and his eyes were bloodshot… it

was easy to tell that he had wept a lot in the past few hours.

30

I parked by the gate and slowly shuffled to where I.B was

sitting. He rushed and gave me a very emotional bro-hug

and I found myself speechless. We sat in silence for a few

minutes before I found my voice again.

„What really happened man? I.B, tell me all you know!‟ I

said coolly, showing no sign of the turmoil within me.

„I‟m not really sure what happened bro…all I know is that

Ayo came back from school yesterday in the evening and found

Heych and another guy butchered in “you-and-Shizzy‟s” old

apartment. He spent the whole of last night getting the JTF on

scene, answering questions and…you know how police wahala is

now. I actually thought the guy found with Heych was Shizzy but

apparently, it was someone else. A JTF convoy just went back to

the compound a few minutes back and did a thorough search and

that‟s when they found…‟ I.B‟s voice trailed off and there was

pain in his voice.

„Are you really sure it‟s Shizzy they just found?‟

„Von… that‟s what eyewitnesses are telling me o! The JTF

are still in the compound right now self and people are running

away from that street because no one really understands what‟s

going on… and you know how the JTF can be if they start

questioning people…‟was I.B‟s reply.

It took me less than a second to make up my mind;

„I‟m going there now…‟ I said as I stood up.

„No wait Von-D...‟ I.B stood up and tried to hold me

back. „The soldiers are all over the place man and they may

31

mistake you for…. Calm down bro. I don‟t think it‟s safe to go

over there‟

I was about to start arguing with him when my phone

rang. I picked up the phone and Umar‟s broken voice spoke

at the other end;

„Bro, have you heard what‟s going on? They just found…they

just found your bro, man…. He‟s gone… He‟s…‟ Umar‟s voice

was really shaky and I could not even fathom what he was

going through. I was silent for I had nothing to say.

„The JTF just called me to come over to the compound so I‟ll

be there in a few minutes. I‟ve told them that you are coming to

stand in for Shizzy so I‟ll call you when I get there…‟ Umar said.

„Thanks bro… I‟ll be waiting. I‟m even nearby… Stay strong

man‟ was my reply.

I sat down again and a look of relief swept over I‟B‟s

face. He assumed that I‟d changed my and was obviously

glad about it. I told him about the conversation I had just

had with Umar and he grew apprehensive again when he

learnt that I was still to go over to the scene and meet up

with the JTF. I chewed my fingers as I fiddled with my

phone and scrolled slowly through my contacts down to

one of the entries. I dreaded the phone-call I was about to

make and it took the greatest amount of willpower I could

muster to make that phone call. I had the responsibility of

breaking this final piece of bad news to Abdul‟s parents… I

found it really ironic. On another day, in another place, at

another time and on a different turn of events, it would

32

have been Abdul‟s responsibility to call my parents. But

here I was, alive and breathing while my best friend had

crossed to the other side. I must confess that I lost my faith

in God at that point…

I called Abdul‟s dad and there was a faint glimmer of

hope in his voice when he picked the call, for I guess he

believed I was calling him to give him some good news.

„Hello sir… umm… we found Abdul sir… He‟s… umm…

Abdul‟s gone sir… He‟s gone…‟ I said softly.

A very pained wail went out from Abdul‟s dad and he

pushed the phone away from himself for a while… I could

still hear the mourning in the background though. It was

very touching to hear a soldier weep, quite unbearable to

hear a father shed tears for his son. I was about to drop the

call for I could not bear to listen anymore when his voice

spoke to me again from the other end with remarkable

composure.

„I‟m sending my brother to meet you my son, so be calm and

stay strong. Make sure you don‟t call my wife… I‟ll be the one to

tell her myself. I‟m booking the next flight to Maiduguri so please

try and do what you can to get Abdul to the hospital before I come

ok? Call me every few minutes and continuously update me on

whatever‟s going on…‟ There was a certain coldness to his

voice now and I was taken aback by how quickly he had

composed himself. He was a military officer after all…

„Ok sir…no problem‟ was my muffled reply. A few

minutes later, Umar called me to come over to the

33

compound and I left I.B‟s house and headed for Shizzy‟s old

apartment.

* * * * * * * *

I walked towards Abdul‟s apartment for it wasn‟t far

from I.B‟s place. Actually, the apartment belonged jointly

to I and Abdul and we‟d rented it the previous year when

we were trying to set our studio up. It was a self-contained

apartment having a single room, a kitchen, parlour, toilet

and bathroom. The house was in the last compound on the

street and it overlooked a valley just behind the 202 housing

estate. The view from behind the house was breathtakingly

picturesque and the cool evening breeze that blew

consistently made it an ideal place for relaxation. Abdul

had stumbled across the house at some point in our 2nd year

and had immediately fallen in love with the place. In his

usual boisterous manner, he had put up all the money he

had, which was roughly equivalent to half the rent before I

had even gotten to see the place and before I knew it he had

already secured the place for us. I was mad for a while but

as always, he knew just how to placate me and within a few

weeks, I had managed to scrape together the remaining half

of the rent money and the apartment became ours. I turned

into the street and spotted the gate of the compound from

afar and a million memories came gushing at me. I sighed

to myself, for the scene that confronted me was a sharp

34

contrast to the fond memories I had of the house. From my

vantage point, I could see two JTF Toyota-Hilux parked at

the gate of the compound. Uniformed men were all over the

place and I hesitated for a second; I suddenly felt like I

didn‟t want to be there at all. Umar, who‟d met me while I

was walking into the street, gently gave me an encouraging

shove and silently communicated the words „Be strong bro‟

to me. I closed my eyes still hoping that I would wake up

but I opened them to see the continuation of my

nightmares. We were almost at the compound and I could

see a group of policemen talking to two men dressed in

kaftans. From their looks, I could tell they were Halie‟s

uncles. Her car was parked under a tree outside [in her

favourite parking spot] just opposite one of the JTF‟s Hilux

truck. I heard a gun cock and looked up to see it pointed at

me;

„Yessssss… Stop right there my friend and identify

yourself!‟ said a uniformed man. I couldn‟t blame them for

their weariness for they had suffered a lot of casualties from

innocent looking suicide bombers and thus, were extremely

cautious and suspicious of anyone that crossed their paths.

„He‟s the one I was telling you about. The boy‟s friend… he

can get you in touch with the boy‟s family.‟ Umar quickly said

and the weary soldier let his gun drop down. A look of pity

actually came over his face and he encouraged me to be

calm.

35

„Where is he?‟ I asked Umar as we got to where the

vehicles were parked. Umar pointed to a Hilux and I slowly

walked towards it… My breath became really shallow and

time seemed to freeze for an eternal moment, as the corpse

that was in the truck slowly came into view. Abdul lay

peacefully in the back of the truck and his eyes were

partially open. Blood was still flowing a bit from the back

of his head where a blow had inflicted a serious injury and

his throat was slit… and not by a sharp knife from the looks

of it. My God! „Why didn‟t they just shoot him Lord…. Why?

This is just too brutal‟ was the thought that kept ringing

through my head. I felt faint headed and nostalgia

overwhelmed me. I stretched my hand and adjusted his

hair, held his hands and stared into the face for a very long

time allowing the truth to finally sink in. Shizzy was really

dead.

Someone gently pulled me away from the car and the

JTF began questioning me. In the background, I could see

the soldiers receiving tactical orders from their leader and

assuming some sort of formation. They all split up and

fanned out in different directions and I deduced that they

were conducting a detailed sweep of the surrounding areas,

especially in the valley. I faced the policemen left behind

and absent-mindedly answered all their questions. It was

decided that I would accompany them to the morgue to

drop Abdul‟s corpse and also facilitate their meeting with

his family members. Before leaving for the hospital, Umar

asked me to accompany him into the apartment and help

36

him search for Halie‟s car key. A shiver ran down my spine

when I set foot in the compound. The compound was

completely deserted and the door of our apartment was

partially ajar. The door showed no signs of a forced entry

and there was little to indicate that a struggle might have

occurred in the compound and this seemed peculiar to me.

With Umar in the lead, we slowly walked into the

apartment and I immediately felt the nauseous. The living

room was… and blood covered every inch of the floor

[Abdul had packed out and so there was no furniture in the

house]. Splashes of red littered the walls and I shuddered

at the thought of the savagery that must have occurred the

previous night. My heart ached as images of what might

have transpired flooded my mind. I tried to picture the men

over-whelming poor sweet Halie, putting a knife to her

throat and… I couldn‟t take it no more so I silently stepped

out to get some air.

„Is this where they were all found?‟ I asked Umar when he

finally emerged from the apartment.

„No. Halie was found her with the other guy last night while

Shizzy was found there…‟ He pointed at the third apartment.

I sighed and said no more, turned around and went back to

where the JTF men were still discussing. When they had

finished their arrangements, we got into the truck and were

soon on our way to the UMTH [University of Maiduguri

Teaching Hospital] leaving Umar and his uncles behind to

take care of things at the apartment with the other JTF

officers.

37

I was sited in between two police men in the back row

of the Hilux-truck. Three uniformed men were sitting in

the trunk together with the corpse while two other JTF

men were in the front of the vehicle, one driving and the

other in the passenger side. We were moving in a convoy

consisting of two cars and ours was the one leading. Now

that I‟d come to terms with the truth, an unnatural calm

came settled over me. I knew what needed to be done and I

got busy doing it. Phone calls to Abdul‟s father and uncle to

let them know what was happening, phone calls to some of

my guys to help me look for D-2… I tried to keep myself

occupied for I did not want to dwell on the thoughts that

were threatening to overwhelm me.

„Who was he?‟ The officer to my right asked me. I

briefly told him about Abdul and Halima. Upon learning

that the deceased was an officer‟s son, who had even served

for some time in Maiduguri, the countenance of all the JTF

men in the vehicle changed and I could see that this little

fact had made the murder take on a new dimension for

them. It was not just another random murder on the streets

of Maid; it was the murder of one of their own‟s son and

that made it really personal. They were quite aggravated

and I smelled trouble for I knew that they would be looking

for an outlet to pour out their pain. The driver became

much more reckless, weaving through the streets at break-

neck speed while blasting his siren and cursing whoever

was unfortunate enough to be in his way. Meanwhile, the

other men began to recount their losses in the past few

38

weeks to me, blaming most of it on the civilians. I dared to

ask why they felt a lot of the civilians were responsible and

they gave me numerous instances of how some civilians

connived with the insurgents to aid them by selling out the

military men, hiding them and sometimes even employing

their services to take care of perceived enemies. I didn‟t

know what to make of their accusations but it was clear to

see that they had a lot of grievances and there was no

appeasing them. No wonder a lot of people usually got

caught up in the cross fire whenever they unleashed their

vengeance on insurgents and suspected civilians alike.

We‟d been driving for about 15 minutes and were

almost at the hospital when our driver suddenly pulled on

his hand-break and brought us to a halt in „James-Bond‟

fashion.

„Wetin happen now?‟ asked the guy in the passenger sit

beside the driver. I was also a little bit alarmed and was

wondering if we had run into an ambush.

„Bros I don spot them….look there‟, He said pointing at a

junction across the road. „See those boys repairing the road…

where that big pot-hole is? Na them be that!‟ He added, while

simultaneously cocking his gun and putting the car in

reverse gear.

„How you know say na them? Make we no go attack

innocent civilians o!‟ asked one of the other policemen.

„It‟s them jor!‟ shouted the one beside me.

39

„Where have you been ehn? Don‟t you know that they have

developed a new way of attacking us? Lately they‟ve been

disguising as all these boys that repair roads for small change

from passers-by. They plant bombs while repairing the road…if

we leave these ones now trust me, in the next thirty minutes y0u‟l

hear an explosion at this same spot. That‟s how they killed those

soldiers last week in that area after Gumboru now…. I was there

when it happened.‟ said the driver as he expertly used his

hand-brake once again to make the truck skid and turn to

face the junction. The truck that had been following us had

also come to a halt and I could see the policemen in the

truck disembarking in acrobatic fashion while cocking their

guns at the same time. The soldiers that were at the

checkpoints ahead and behind us saw the manoeuvre of our

convoy and immediately stopped the flow of traffic as they

also readied their weapons and began talking into their

radio devices. Within the blink of an eye, the JTF men that

had disembarked from our convoy surrounded the boys that

had been repairing the road, and started firing warning

shots into the air to scare them and warn civilians to keep

away. There were about five of them repairing the road and

it was clear that we‟d caught them unawares. I expected

immediate surrender but I was taken aback when two of the

boys dropped their diggers and immediately took on their

heels, clearly intending to resist arrest. Some soldiers

immediately broke up from our group and began pursuit as

the boys swiftly headed for residential areas. It was obvious

that they were intending to get lost in the crowd of civilians

inhabiting these areas. Gunshots suddenly erupted all

40

around and I heard one of the JTF commanders ordering

his men to avoid civilian casualties and ensure that they

captured the boys alive. The policemen meanwhile began

questioning the remaining three while hand-cuffing them

when gunshots erupted from somewhere within the

residential areas. The JTF looked alarmed and I guessed

that it wasn‟t friendly fire. The last boy that was yet to be

hand-cuffed took advantage of the brief distraction and

took to his heels, fleeing in a different direction from the

previous two. It was curious to see him flee against all odds,

disregarding the warning shots being fired and trying

desperately to avoid capture even if it meant his life. It

occurred to me that an innocent person would have never

fled like that; the gunshots would have been enough to

paralyze any normal person with fear. Strangely enough, I

was not scared, anxious nor having any sort of emotion at

all. Here I was, still sitted in the truck, Abdul in the back

and a battle raging on around me and yet, I was unnaturally

calm. Ironic, I thought to myself, how only two nights ago,

we were having fun in my house, playing games seemingly

oblivious to the distant carnage that ceaselessly occurred in

town while today, I was caught right in the middle of one

of those skirmishes with Abdul dead in the back of a JTF

van. It seemed surreal. I kept watching the scene unfolding

around me. The first two boys that had fled had managed to

get into civilian populated areas and so, I couldn‟t see what

was happening where they were. There was however rapid

gun fire coming from the area they had run into and it was

impossible to tell if the soldiers were the ones shooting or if

41

they had come under attack of an insurgent squad. I said a

silent prayer for the people in that area and turned to watch

the other things going on. The last boy to have fled

meanwhile was un-able to run into the residential areas, for

he was unlucky to have run in a direction having shops and

houses with tall fences and no arterial streets. Thus, he was

forced to keep fleeing on foot on the main street while the

policemen and soldiers gave chase and manoeuvred to

corner him. I spotted the driver of our truck running back

to our vehicle, his gun pointed up and firing warning shots

into the sky. He jumped in and revved the engine and I

realised he was determined to not let his bounty escape.

Screeching and skidding, the car performed manoeuvres

that I hitherto believed were only possible in movies, and

soon caught up with the boy. I was scared our driver was

intending to hit or shoot the boy but the boy, with

unnatural agility, turned into another street at the last

moment and our vehicle sped past him. I feared the worst

for I assumed we were going too fast and were going to end

up in a ditch that was adjacent to the junction the boy had

branched into but our driver calmly and expertly pulled on

his hand-brake and performed one of his „James-Bond‟

manoeuvres again. The car skidded dangerously to the edge

of the road and miraculously spun perfectly into the street,

avoiding collision with another vehicle by less than an inch.

The tires screeched once again and gave chase while I

stared mouth agape at the driver. My respect for him had

just quadrupled in the space of a few minutes [this is a

random fact but I used to do some stunt driving for fun

42

back in my early university days and so I could appreciate

the skill of the driver in ways others might not have].

Barely 10 seconds later, we caught up with the boy yet

again and he ran into a nearby building like a cornered

animal holding on desperately to anything that could keep

him away from captivity. Our truck parked and the driver

jumped out [before the vehicle had even stopped] and ran

into the building after the boy. By this time, the frequency

of gunshots all around had increased ten-fold and I knew

not if the JTF was being engaged by sect-members or if

they [the JTF] were just firing warning shots to keep

people at bay. I looked up again to see the building that the

boy had run into surrounded by a police-man and two other

soldiers alike. I feared for the innocent people within and

hoped that the building was un-occupied. The gate of the

compound was ajar and I could partially see what was going

on within. The compound seemed to be deserted and I

could see the soldiers searching room by room. The boy

suddenly jumped out from hiding and attempted to jump a

fence but he was taken unawares by two policemen who

had anticipated his move and out-flanked him in advance.

He was caught and this time, there was no letting him go.

He was beaten mercilessly and it took two men to

restrain our driver from shooting him at the spot. He

seemed to be extra-pissed by the whole affair and I could

hear him shouting;

43

„Make una leave me make I shoot am for hear jor… u see the

way wey dem kill our boys last week for Gomboru ehn? Leave me

to teach them a lesson here. You are lucky that commander has

ordered us to refrain from killing anyone today….‟ said the

driver as the boy was cuffed and bundled into our car. I got

a good look at him as they pushed him into the back of the

truck, forcing him to lie down beside Abdul‟s corpse. His

eyes were blood-shot red and he seemed to be no older than

twenty-one. His teeth were all stained red with blood and

he had bruises all over him. There was an air of defiance

about him and even though he was trapped with no were to

run to, the look in his eyes clearly challenged the JTF men

to do their worst. He had this fierce disposition that clearly

indicated his desire to kill anyone he could lay his hands on.

The other two boys were also brought to our truck and we

soon resumed our trip to the hospital amidst joyous

salutations from the other JTF men manning the various

check points on our route.

We headed for the central command post of the JTF

for that sector [which was along custom road] to drop the

captured boys before heading back for the hospital. The last

boy to be captured made futher feeble attempts to escape

and he had to be beaten to the point that he couldn‟t walk

before we were able to have an eventless journey. The

gunshots died down soon after we left the area and so I

assumed that the JTF had either captured the other two

boys or achieved some victory of some sort.

44

* * * * * * * * *

After the skirmish and arrest of those boys, we finally

headed to the hospital to drop Abdul. I felt queer when I

was asked to fill in the details for the mortuary card for

Shizzy and I thought how ironic it was that I was filling

out the information for my best friend‟s death certificate. It

still was hard to accept. Abdul‟s uncles met me in the

hospital and I left them with one of the officers while we

drove to the building where the morgue was located. I

helped them carry Abdul into the morgue and afterwards,

stood there wondering where Halie was. I didn‟t have time

to ask that for the JTF were in a hurry to get back to their

posts and so, they took me back to their station and took

statements from me and followed all the other necessary

protocols for de-briefing.

I was about to be discharged when one of the

policemen suddenly had the idea of showing me the other

guy found with Halie the previous night to see if I could

identify him. I personally thought it was pointless for I

reasoned that if all the people that had found the corpses

and had been questioned [including Umar] had not been

able to identify the unknown third person, there was little

or no chance of me knowing who it was. I was tired and

the fatigue was getting to me for I had been through a lot in

45

the space of a few hours. I however obliged [not that I had

much of a choice] and I found myself heading back to the

morgue with one plain clothed officer.

On arrival, we were led into an inner chamber where

the corpses were kept in fridges by one of the morticians

and I thought how awful and lonely the place looked like.

The smell of chemical preservative was heavy in the air to

the point of almost choking. Numerous metallic fridges

were stacked in rows and columns from the floor reaching

to almost the ceiling of the building and across the hall, I

could see a small group of Boy‟s Scout boys dressed in

undertaker clothes coming to claim one of the corpses. The

procession was really solemn and the futility of life dawned

on me in all its magnitude. I sighed and the officer that

accompanied me asked me if I wanted to see Halie. I stilled

my mind and nodded, and the mortician strolled to one of

the fridges and pulled out the corpse within. Halie looked

asleep, dressed in a vest and a fitted trouser; the colour had

drained from her skin and clotted blood was all over her.

Her throat was… tears came to my eyes and I told the

mortician I had seen enough. The officer gently tapped me

on the back to reassure me while the mortician closed up

and led us to another fridge. He slowly pulled it out and I

received the biggest shock of my life yet. Lying fully

clothed, a gentle smile on his lips and hands folded on his

chest was a face that I had not in any way anticipated.

Time seemed to freeze for me and it took a long time for

me to recover from the shock… I turned and looked at the

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officer. He had seen my reaction and realized that I knew

the person. I spoke softly to him and said;

„His name is Yakubu… but we call him D2.‟

* * * * * * * * *

The rest of the day unfolded quickly. Learning that the

3rd guy was D2 had greatly unsettled me and the events that

occurred afterwards seem like a blur to me now. I

remember taking the officers to D2‟s apartment, remember

running into my mum after leaving the officer at D2‟s place

for she had come immediately after church into 202/303 to

look for me and Abdul. I remember the heart rending wail

that went up from her when I told her Abdul was gone. My

aunts that had accompanied her had to support her back to

her car and I insisted that they go force her back home for I

needed to finish settling things with the JTf. I remember

going home after everything to meet a million friends,

waiting to condole me and to know of the situation update.

I remember locking myself up, and shedding no tears at all

for my mind had been simply blank… too numb to feel any

emotion. I recall Minta [one of Halie‟s closest friends]

coming over to share in my grief. I remember the sorrow

we all felt when A-maz‟s came over later that evening to

keep me company for I could not bear to sleep alone in my

room.

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It‟s really sad that I could not attend any of their

burials; really sad that Abdul‟s parents could not be around

for his burial either. It was insisted by his relatives that

Abdul‟s father, being a military personnel, was bound to be

targeted for assassination if he came into Maiduguri for the

burial for it was common knowledge that he had lost a son

and so everyone, including unknown enemies, would have

been keeping an eye out for him. Halie‟s mum had

collapsed upon receiving the news and had to be

hospitalized for about a week. The news of the loss of her

only child really shook her up and as such, she was not able

to attend the burial too. A series of explosions occurred in

the early hours of Monday, 1st of October and as such, all

major routes in the city were barricaded by the JTF from

dawn till dusk, grounding almost all movement in

Maiduguri that day. Abdul was buried in Maiduguri on that

day and I was told that his people almost rioted against the

JTF forces, for they insisted on burying their dead

according to Muslim rights regardless of the security

situation in the town. We from the university who‟d

wished to attend could not however because of the

blockades in town. Halima was carried back to Biu, our

home town that same Monday and laid to rest. Her convoy

had luckily left Maiduguri before the blockades had been

put in place by the military. Yakubu [D2] was laid to rest

on Wednesday in Maiduguri, which sadly enough, was the

day I went on exile. I found myself on the first available

flight out of town that day for my parents, and even

Abdul‟s parents were agreed on the fact that it was probably

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not safe for me to be in Maiduguri any longer since the

identity and the motive of the killers were unknown and it

was impossible to determine if it was a random act of

violence [these kind of random murders have been a

common occurrence in Maiduguri since the dawn of the

insurgency and it was not far-fetched to consider that

possibility] or if our clique of friends had been purposely

targeted. As my flight took off, I looked through the

window and watched Maiduguri slowly shrink away and I

wondered what the future held for me. One thing was

certain; life was never going to be the same again.

49

Aftermath

A sequel to “The Chronicles of A Ghost Town” Series

Picture: From Google

Written by VondBeatz

I am sitting on a couch, deeply lost in my thoughts and

paying little attention to the laptop in front of me. It‟s a

very cold night in Volgograd and the wind is howling

outside, sounding really eerie. The internet says it‟s about 4

– degrees Celsius outside but it feels much colder than that.

The cold, combined with the vodka in my system is making

me really moody tonight. I stretch back on the couch, my

mind over six thousand kilometres away. At about this

same time last year, I received a message that irrevocably

altered the course of my life. I sigh to myself as I adjust the

pillow my head is resting on, a million thoughts running

through my mind. One year and what do I have to show for

it? Fine I lost Shizzy, Heych and D2 but what have I done

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for them in the past one year? I have not been able to

accomplish any of the things I promised myself I would do

for them. One word, I‟m bitter; with myself, with the

world, with whatever… I would dare say I am really close to

questioning my maker but I know better than to do that. I

left Maiduguri last year October after the cold blooded

assassination of three of my dearest friends Shizzy

(Abdulmalik), Heych (Halima) and D2 (Yakubu) and life

hasn‟t been the same for me. I get off the couch and move

to the dining as I try to put the events of the past year and

the aftermath of my friends passing, into perspective.

Meeting their parents had been really emotional for me; the

few weeks I had spent with Shizzy‟s parents still fresh in

my memory. I remember how queer I had felt during that

period, always thinking how ironic it was that I was the one

alive, spending time with Shizzy‟s parents while only a

few weeks back, we had both been together in that same

house. The period after that had been really lonely and

depressing for me, I spent the whole semester away from

school and only went back for about three weeks to write

my exams and then, relocated back to Lags for my

Internship. I sigh to myself as I get up to make some tea.

Jay just called me a few minutes back and she has done a

very good job of lifting my spirits up. But the torrent of

thoughts in my mind is almost overwhelming.

My tea is ready and I‟m back to my sit. I open up my

chrome browser and launch the tweet-deck app to monitor

the tweets on #shizzyheychd2day. A-maz, being ever

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prolific with ideas came up with suggestion that we come

up with a way to make the 29th of September every year a

Memorial Day for the trio we lost. I sigh to myself as I

sluggishly sip my tea and scroll through the tweets on my

TL, re-tweeting the relevant once while doing so. My

problem I think, is that anything I, or we, try to do to

honour them always seems too little or insignificant to me.

I really want to do soo much! As I scroll through my

messages, my heart skips a bit as I glance through a

conversation I had a few weeks back with a really close

friend of Shizzy. I remember feeling nostalgic and very

depressed for a few days after our conversation and right

now, going through the messages again bring up sharp

pangs of emotion in me. The conversation had left me

feeling like I had been talking to Shizzy through an

intermediary… it‟s hard to explain so I will just place a copy

of a portion of our conversation here;

[Note that I have used a false name in order to hide the identity

of the person I am chatting with as I do not wish to infringe on

her privacy. Nevertheless, I have published this conversation with

her full permission]

I am @vondbeatz while the lady is codenamed @x

@x :

“Hey, How u doin today”

@vondbeatz :

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“Heeey! Am gud.... Jst stayin home all day 2day :D”

.... “feel soo lazy Lolz....ow bout u?”

@x :

“Lolz. Am ok, feelin kinda down nd sad”

“Dreamt bout Shizzy”

“It ws so real, we tlked as though he was alive :(“

@vondbeatz :

“Rily?...ur missin him:)....I dream about them a lot

too”

“N it always feels sooo ril”

“...The one year remembrance is comin up soon”

“I wanna do smthn special 4'em”

@x :

“Yea, thnk u shld”

“We were talkin n he said he misses bein on earth nd

he misses all his frnds especially VonD”

“He said nt bein wit u hurts him a lot”

“He asked hw Sound Unit is doin, buh I said I dunno”

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“Cuz I rili don't knw”

“I told him we now get along well wit u nd he ws

soooo hapi”

“Wen he was alive he teases me, dat I'm havin a crush

on u cuz I always ask aftr u wen he coms to my room”

“He'd be lyk heeeey my [x] is havin a crush on my

frnd :)”

“Nd I'd be lyk "shizzy take ur tym o"

@vondbeatz

“Wooow...he sed dt?...my life's bin upside down sins

he left...I fil lost”

“Sound unit is now dysfunctional...its nt bin d same

without him around”

@x :

“Awwww”

“Woooooow”

“Am so sori to here dat D”

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@vondbeatz

“:)...so he used 2 tease ya ehn...hehe...dnt mind him”

“He had a way of bringin ppl 2geda...”

“Ya....muzik's nt jst d same for me...if u cheq my

twitter bio it says retired....der's no mor fun in it 4me

anymod”

“Ppl say am givin up on our dreams...I dunno if dts

tru...”

“4me its just...muzik wasn't bout bein succesful n

famous....I was just enjoyin d whole journey...n d

numerous crazy thinz we did...”

@x :

“Omg”

@vondbeatz

“....Nw...I feel like a part of me died with them on that

day...”

“Hard 2 explain...nobody understands..”

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“Sumtimes I feel guilty...coz I kno he would want me 2

continue...but 4me its nt jst d same anymo...”

“Its nt worth bein successful...if he aint here 4 us 2 be

successfull 2geda...

“I'm talkin too much...sowie dear...dnt mind me:)”

@x :

“No no no pls u can tlk”

“I undrstnd hw u feel”

“Just do wat u feel it's ryt”

@vondbeatz

“Ummm...did u read a story I posted on one website

like dt a few weeks bak?”

@x :

“No I didn't”

“Do u knw I askd him who kill em nd why wld d

person do dat?”

“*Killed*”

@vondbeatz

56

“U did?...wt did he say?”

@x :

“He jst nodded nd said I don't wanna knw”

“He asked if I've seen his corps”

“I said no nd he said, it was just one person who did

it....dat was all he said

“Rili don't undrstnd wat he means by dat”

@vondbeatz

“*sigh*.... He won't tell you ehn...I'l stil find out

sumday..”

“Wow...u guys rily talked...am kinda jealous :$”

“Jst one person?...hmmm”

@x :

“Aww pls don't, I feel hapi we tlkd”

“Papa said d same thn too...he must find out”

@vondbeatz

“Hehe...dnt mind me:)”

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“Ma dreams about dem hav always been fuzzy”

“I only wake up n realize dt I was dreamin...n den

remeber dt dey gone.....den d ache comes bak:(“

@x :

There's dis his T-shirt I luv...NO WIFI

I askd him 2 gimme buh he said he can't

@vondbeatz

“:) I kno d shirt...”

“If I'd known I cud'v kept it 4ya”

@x :

“Awwww I wld luvd dat “

“I wish to hav somthn of his”

@vondbeatz

“I wud get smthn 4 u dnt worry:)”

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@x :

“I hated myslf for wakin up lst nyt”

@vondbeatz

“I kno d feelin...:) dreams u wish wud never end”

“Wish I cud have more conversation with him”

“Dnt be too sad dear...everythin'l be alright Godwillin”

@x :

“:) yea sure”

…

Its about 3:30am right here and I cannot recall the

moment the drink in my hand changed from tea, to a

Russian Beer of which I am clueless to what is written on

the back of the can. Reading this conversation always

makes me feel Shizzy‟s presence around me. I feel like they

all watching and the truth is that I miss them so bad it

hurts. Maybe I am half-drunk write now as I am writing

this but hey… life is too short. I know you all watching me

right now and so I take this time to tell you this; I miss you

all and I won‟t let our dreams die. It‟s a promise. RIP!

#shizzyHeychD2day

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