18/09/2023
THEY KILLED HIM
It was in the capital city of Anambra State, Awka, that, in the course of my search for greener pasture during the days of my little beginning, I met him - a young man full of life and aspirations.
During that time, he was a student at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka while doing bricklaying and other related menial jobs to sponsor himself in his quest to acquire a degree certificate. He was a dedicated and hardworking young champ who motivated me a whole lot, even while we worked as bricklayers' servers at the Anglican Diocese of Awka Resource Centre at Rockland Estate. I honestly drew strength from his workaholic spirit.
So, one day after the tedious work of bricklaying at Rockland Estate, we were trekking towards Umuodu Bridge, and curious me, who would ask questions like answers never existed, swung into a question spree... He was so gracious in answering me. That was when I knew that he was done with his first degree and was in his finals for his second degree at the same university. Since then, my relationship with him has grown more because I understood that I was hopeful to learn more from him, which I believed would guide me well.
A couple of years later, I boarded a Keke Napep (tricycle) from Unizik junction to Y-junction, and to my surprise, he was the rider. I wasn't comfortable with his appearance; he wasn't looking so good, but the presence of other passengers onboard wouldn't allow me to ask him some questions, so I had to collect his phone number, and later, I called him for a hangout at Club Zone, which he honoured, and we discussed at length his fate after his second degree.
It was at the hangout that I learned that he opted for the hire-purchase of a Keke Napep. He told me that he would rather work for his money than beg or indulge in criminality. Of course, he is indeed a two-degree holder, and following his level of reasoning, one would deduce how intelligent he was despite the fact that a white-collar job wasn't his luck as he had no long legs in the high places to fix him somewhere. But he was a happy young man with the little he got through thick and thin. His infectious smile would be a topic for another day.
He told me how his joy knew no bounds when he had finished the first hire-purchase on his first Keke Napep. And was enjoying the freedom from the shackles of weekly remittance to his master, and there came a shock that left him shattered. His Keke Napep was stolen at his compound, where he had packed it after the day's toiling. He lost the tricycle that took him two years to complete the agreed hire-purchase amount. But tragedy struck and left him in the pitiable state in which I had met him a few days ago. It was so sad that I felt for him as tears rolled down his cheeks. I consoled him and encouraged him as little as I could, and we bounced around to other topics of interest.
Since then, I have maintained constant communication with him to know how he was recovering from the loss that plunged him into embarking on another hire-purchase of the second Keke he was riding after he had lost the first one. He was all smiles each time we discussed, and in our last discussion before his number became unavailable, he told me about his plans to settle down with the love of his life, who had been a source of hope to him in his worst times. That alone gladdened my heart so much that I was ready to support him and join in planning the wedding.
I kept trying to see if I could get him through phone calls, but to no avail, so I became worried. Just recently, I was told a devastating story about him.
There was an incident that happened at Nkpor sometime ago, if we can still remember it. A situation where a Keke rider and two other guys were victims of mob action, otherwise known as jungle justice, at the building material market axis. Unknown to him, the two passengers that hurriedly boarded his Keke were armed robbers, and they asked him to take off. Which he did. Little did he know that the two men were criminals who were being chased by a group of people whom they had wanted to rob before some of the people resisted and revolted against them. While into the ride, he noticed other Keke and some other vehicles were chasing him while those two criminals were ordering him to speed off, but on second thought, he decided to stop to know what was happening, as they say that "clear conscience fears not...".
Immediately he stopped his keke, the two guys rushed off the tricycle and were immediately caught, and while he was still trying to understand what was going on, stones and weapons started raining on him. One of the eyewitnesses who explained what had happened said that, immediately after he stopped the Keke, the mob descended on him, giving him no listening ears. He cried and pleaded to be heard, but his Keke was already in flames. alongside the bodies of the two robbers. He continued to struggle for his life. At a point, he wanted to run, but he was badly wounded and couldn't run. He continued to plead to the point that he had lost his voice. His face was redesigned with various weapons, with blood and bruises drawing contours on his body. And suddenly, he was hit on the head with a big stone, causing him to become unconscious. As his body was being dragged into the flames, the police arrived and rescued him, saving him from being thrown into the flames.
He sustained numerous bodily injuries, both seen and unseen. His unconscious body was rushed to the hospital by the police, where people who knew him later joined them. People who joined them started donating money with a view to saving his life and offsetting the hospital's expenses thereafter. As I was told, doctors and other health workers were at their best with all sense of seriousness. People who knew him continued to arrive at the hospital, and testimonies about him became so positive that some members of the people who hurriedly administered the jungle justice, who were also believed to have trailed the police officers to the hospital, became restless, having learned about his innocence. It was a joint effort to restore his soul.
Unfortunately, all efforts to revive him failed, as he died from internal bleeding on the head while undergoing an x-ray.
Sadly, he has died. His first and second degrees have become useless, his dreams have been cut short, and his fiancé will have to start afresh while his aged parents have unlawfully lost their pillar in a most despicable manner - the pillar in whom their hope of survival lies. I am seriously disturbed about this death.
Oh! THEY KILLED HIM.
May his soul rest in peace.
[NOTE: This is loneliness-induced fiction, and I hope that it helps us in the fight against jungle justice in the society].
I'm Mr. Caleb Okechukwu
ME : Jungle justice should be stopped as anyone could be a victim.
May Nigeria Succeed
© Chiedozie Nnajiofor
