Dirty Diamonds Of Boko Haram Part 1 (11 page)

He had nodded to her and headed back for his
seat.

At the Kano airport, while many of the
passengers were being checked by security, Alex had been one of the
few to be waved through unbothered. In the arrivals’ hall this taxi
driver had approached him boldly with the note on which the
prearranged message had been scribbled and signed by the legitimate
contact, Mr. Danjumma. Alex had then followed the taxi driver
without question as the note implored.

Alex brought his mind back to the present and
checked his watch. It was going on to twelve O’clock.

The old taxi wasn’t fast but within fifteen
minutes they were in an area that looked like an industrial estate.
They soon pulled up before a pair of large brown gates with the
black and gold Goldfield company logo on them. An alert uniformed
security man pushed the gates open quickly and the taxi drove
through into the deserted compound of a huge warehouse, three large
warehouse buildings linked together as one. The giant doors of one
of the warehouses stood partly open and beside it was a man dressed
in white shirtsleeve and black trousers. No other soul was in
sight.

The taxi driver drove through the large
compound and pulled up directly in front of the open warehouse
doors. The man stepped up at once and got the rear door open for
Alex.

“Welcome, sir” he greeted as Alex climbed out
of the back seat.

The man was about thirty, clearly Hausa in
origin and he spoke fine English.

“Thank you” said Alex and looked around. He
carried his light bag easily in one hand.

“Just go on inside” said the man gesturing at
the open doors of the warehouse. “My boss and your friends are
waiting for you”

As Alex walked off, the man turned to the
taxi driver and switched effortlessly to the Fulani language. He
handed over a few naira note from a fat bundle in his pocket and
the driver was all smiles. The taxi drove off, made an easy U-turn
in the spacious compound and headed back towards the gates.

Alex took off his dark sunglasses as he
walked cautiously through the open doors.

The interior of the large warehouse was
gloomy but he could see it was parked high with large wooden crates
and cartoons of goods, all the way deep in. There was more space
closer to the open doors and to one side was parked a white Toyota
Hilton bus while to the other were several plastic chairs arranged
around two table. Rufai and Samuel sat there enjoy some
refreshments and chatting with another man he had never seen
before.

They saw Alex right away and the stranger got
to his feet immediately, coming towards him.

“Ah, Mr. Okoye, good afternoon,” said the
stranger in perfect English, smiling politely. “I’m Mr. Danjumma. I
trust you had a nice flight?”

Mr. Danjumma was a respectable looking man in
his late forties, clearly Hausa. He was dark skinned and of average
height with a thick well-fed body that radiated the kind of good
living that came from success and having money. He was dressed in
the customary long robe and trousers style outfit that was the
regular thing among the men up here in the north. The quality of
the material used in tailoring the outfit spoke volumes of the
financial and social statues of the man who wore them. The well to
do men had theirs tailored with expensive materials while the
flamboyant ones among them added the luxury of a hat and sometime,
particularly in the case of the rich ones, the extra layer of a
voluminous over-robe that transformed the entire outfit completely
into something else, an
Agada
. Mr. Danjumma clothes were
tailored from a clearly expensive red fabric, he had on matching
decorative hat and expensive looking shoes. Alex put him down as a
top employee of Goldfield holdings, probable the guy that ran this
whole warehouse and whatever parent company attached to it.

Alex took the proffered hand in a firm
handshake. “I had a nice flight, thank you”

“Oh, good, good” said Mr. Danjumma
enthusiastically and began to lead Alex towards the other two men.
“I was just outlining our traveling arrangements to Mr. Rufai and
lieutenant Samuel while we waited for you and the other two to
arrive. Come please, come and sit down and help yourself to some
the refreshments, there’s enough for everyone. We consider
ourselves very hospitable people here in the north”

Alex followed him over, shook hands with
Rufai and Samuel and took a chair at the table, placing his bag on
the floor next to it as he sat down.

There were several bottles of good wine on
the table and a tray packed high with roast beef. Alex picked out a
bottle wine and a glass, Mr. Danjumma placed an empty plate before
him and gestured at the tray of beef.

“Please, help yourself” he said
encouragingly.

“Thank you” said Alex and picked out a few
large chucks of beef onto the plate.

“As soon as the Lieutenant Samuel’s men
arrive, we’ll be heading out” said Rufai.

“In the Hilton?” asked Alex.

Rufai nodded. “Yes”

“We’ll be picking up a few travelers along
the way to avoid any complications” said Mr. Danjumma now seated
again in his chair. “There are too many military checkpoints along
the roads now and only public transport vehicles stand a chance of
getting through easily”

“Of course, Hassan, but no smelly market
women” said Rufai with much familiarity.

“Of course not” replied Mr. Danjumma at once.
“Just five or six travelers, that’s it”

Alex got the bottle of wine open and filled
his glass then turned to the roast beef. Rufai and Samuel ate away
at the beef and drank their own wine too while Mr. Danjumma just
sat relaxed in the chair watching all of them.

“There has been some news” said Mr. Danjumma
after a minute.

“What?” asked Rufai looking over at him,
mouth full.

They were all looking at him.

“Boko Haram has now overrun all the small
towns and villages south of the Yedzaeam river. Mastari is
completely gone. They hit Bama itself last night”

“Christ!” exclaimed Samuel “Isn’t that
supposed to be the second biggest city in Bornu state?”

“It’s the only other city in the entire state
aside from the capital, Maiduguri” answered Rufai. “Technically
speaking, it’s still a town, a very big one”

“How sure are you about this information?”
asked Alex.

“One hundred percent sure, I have a
well-placed friend in the Army’s regional headquarters in
Maiduguri. He has been out of reach for the last four days so I
wasn’t sure of anything until this morning. As of this morning,
Boko Haram has occupied major areas in the southern part of the
town but the Army is holding its grounds so far”

Alex shook his head sadly, there was suddenly
a bitter taste in his mouth. “Not even up to a year and the entire
state is already gone”

“And the terrorists are still advancing on
all fronts” put in Mr. Danjumma. “The refugees have been pouring
into Maiduguri in their thousands for weeks now. The new camps the
government set up there just last week are already overflowing,
even here in Kano it’s the same thing, too many refugees all at
once, you’ll notice the influx once we get to the inter-state
roads”

Rufai looked at Alex. “How does this affect
our mission?”

Alex shook his head. “I don’t know for sure
but it doesn’t sound good at all. Bama is just twenty miles
north-east of Sambisa forest which is their stronghold. All their
big shots are based either in Sambisa forest itself or within the
vicinity and they never venture too far away, El Soldat is amongst
them. With Bama in military hands we would have had a safe zone
just behind our backs as we went in to meet with them but now…?”
Alex shook his head again. “El Soldat will still want to meet at a
secure location that’s not too far from Sambisa forest and that’s
still to the south of captured Bama, there’s no way he’s coming
into the town or over the Yedzaeam river. We may find ourselves be
going very deep into what is now becoming enemy held territory to
meet him”

“We’ll know for sure soon enough” said Samuel
unworriedly and turned to his glass of wine.

A few minutes of silence followed as they all
turned to the food and drink and then the sounds of vehicles
pulling up outside reached them.

“They are here” said Mr. Danjumma but made no
move to get up.

A minute later two men, both in jeans and
T-shirts, came swaggering in through the entrance. They were both
big men, about to six feet tall, powerfully built and full of
arrogance. The same kind of arrogance one saw in young men with a
lot of confidence in their own strength and power. Alex noticed how
lightly they moved on their feet and knew at once that they were
definitely well-trained and combat fit soldiers like Samuel.

“About time” said Samuel as the men came
up.

The two men threw him a relaxed salute which
told Alex that Samuel had a good relationship going with his
men.

“What kept you bastards so long?” asked
Samuel.

“Those security goons at the airport searched
us like criminals, sir” said one.

“Bloody morons, all of them” grumbled the
other one.

Samuel glanced at Rufai. “We weren’t
searched. Alex were you searched?”

Alex shook his head even as he realized
exactly what Military Intelligence had done or rather what Captain
Sylvia Brown had done. Yes, she was very smart, that was one of the
reasons he like her so much aside from her wonderful rich body and
beauty. Letting most of the first class passenger go had given him
good cover.

Samuel looked at his men and raised his
eyebrows.

“Well, sir, we flew business class while you
people flew first class. The rich always have it all handed to them
on a plate”

Samuel made a sarcastic noise in his throat
and looked at Alex and Rufai again. “Please meet my men, Sergeants
Garko and Efosa. Guys these are Captain Rufai and Lieutenant
Okoye”

The two Sergeants instantly let their bags
fall to the floor as they snapped stiffly to attention.

“Good afternoon, sirs!” they barked out in
unison.

“They are no longer in the force” added
Samuel already busy with some beef.

Efosa rolled his eyes heavenward and glanced
at his partner. They both relaxed.

“Good afternoon, sirs” greeted Sargent Garko
generally.

“Afternoon, Sirs” repeated Efosa.

Efosa was the one making all the cheerful
remarks and Alex found himself liking him which was something that
didn’t come easily at all. The sergeants were roughly the same size
and height but Garko had slightly bigger chest and shoulders, and
he was downright mean looking whereas Efosa was easy going and good
looking.

“Afternoon” said Alex and Mr. Danjumma almost
at the same time. Mr. Danjumma still sat relaxed in his chair.

“Afternoon, Sergeants” said Rufai, he jerked
a thumb at the other table which had a large covered bowl, bottled
water and three bottles of wine. “Sit down and help yourself to
something, we have another long journey ahead of us”

“Thank you, sir” said the sergeants and took
seats at the table.

The men ate in silence for a few minutes and
then the man from outside walked into the warehouse and headed over
to the white Toyota Hilton bus to the other side of the
warehouse.

Mr. Danjumma glanced at his watch then at
Rufai. “We move out in twenty minutes if that’s okay with you”

“No problems, Hassan” nodded Rufai.

Mr. Danjumma got up and walked over to the
bus. His man was already getting the doors open.

*******

They were on the move in twenty minutes.

Mr. Danjumma sat in front with his driver
while the rest of them sat in the back. Samuel and Rufai sat
together in the seat directly behind the front seats, the sergeants
sat together to the back of the bus and Alex was by himself in a
row of seats midway.

After picking up five passengers at a motor
park, four ladies and one elderly looking man, they hit the
inter-state road and went racing east for Bornu state. The Toyota
Hilton bus was air-conditioned and fast but they wasted so much
time on the road due to traffic gridlocks. The confusion of traffic
along the single lane inter-state road was monumental and the
numerous military checkpoints only worsened the situation.

The flood of refugees out of war-torn Bornu
state were endless. So many fleeing and almost no one going back
in. Too many vehicles, cars, buses and even open trailers and
lorries, all loaded down with people and their property, were
hurrying all at once towards the city of Kano, blocking the path of
the vehicles headed in the opposite direction, and this was the
cause of the terrible traffic confusion all along the road.

The refugees trekking on foot were the worse
off. They were in their thousands, covering every inch of space
along the roadside and countryside, hungry looking men, women and
children with all the property they could carry. Some of the
families had quit the migration towards the government operated
camps in the cities and settled for the countryside instead. They
had pitched open camps and kitchens in clearings out in the
countryside and gone into full time begging right along the road.
Every tree in the vicinity had been cut down for firewood and the
beautiful vegetation of the earth was being destroyed at an
alarming rate as the incredible number of refuges foraged for
food.

It was like the exudes of the children of
Israel from Egypt all over again, only worse because there was no
organization to anything and no food was dropping down from heaven,
though Alex grimly as he stared out the window at a woman in
tattered clothes just sitting by the roadside with a dead look in
her eyes and four starving children around her, the youngest of
whom was a crying toddler tugging weakly at her clothes.