Read Dirty Diamonds Of Boko Haram Part 1 Online

Authors: Eze Eke

Tags: #fiction action adventure, #war against terrorism, #adventure and african villages and cities, #corruption wealth and greed, #esponage bodyguards and mobsters, #family betrayals and blackmail, #history reality and facts, #love romance and sex, #money power and politices, #violence kidnapping and murder

Dirty Diamonds Of Boko Haram Part 1 (7 page)

BOOK: Dirty Diamonds Of Boko Haram Part 1
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“It’s fine” said Alex easily like he was used
to high luxury on a daily basis.

“Very good, Mr. Okoye” said Mr. Audu. “This
suite is yours for as long as you require it and all your expenses
will be taken care of by us. Ahmed here will always be available to
provide whatever it is you may need”

Ahmed was a capable looking man of about
thirty, dressed in a smart dark suit with the hotel name and logo
printed on the lapel of the jacket. He gave Alex a polite smile and
a slight bow.

“We are honored to have you as a guest, sir”
he said in perfect English. “If there is ever anything you require,
please ask and it shall be provided at once”

“Some fried rice and a cold bottle of
excellent table wine for lunch will do for now” said Alex right
off. “I’ll leave the choice of wine to you”

“Excellent, sir, your order will be right up
shortly” said Ahmed at once. He bowed again and hurried off with
the velvet, leaving Alex alone with Mr. Audu.

Alex glanced around again. He had never
stayed in such a high luxury hotel before but he could really get
used to it fast.

“I will leave you alone now to rest” said Mr.
Audu. “Later this evening, by six o’clock, I will be back to take
you to meet my boss”

“Alright, thank you” said Alex.

They shook hands again and Mr. Audu left,
closing the door behind him.

Alex went over to sit down in one of the big
armchair, took off his shoes and stretched out his aching body. He
hadn’t slept much last night despite the rigorous exercise routines
which drained him of much strength, he’d been too busy
straightening out his affairs and doing lots of thinking which
keyed him up in such a way that he had even forgotten completely
about food. He hadn’t bothered with food since lunch at the office
yesterday and that was a very good thing because it showed that his
commando training which could push him for days without food was
already beginning to kick in again at the thought of battle.

Alex was right in his prime, just a few
months over twenty-eight years old, six feet one in height with a
powerful broad shouldered athletic build that had been rippling
with hard muscles six months ago when he was still in the Army and
undergoing daily vigorous trainings which kept him very fit. But
now, the easy living of civilian life had softened his body all up
and his reflexes were no longer razor sharp. He hoped to God the
hotel had a state-of-the-art gym where he could work on his body,
conditioning it very quickly for action. He hoped also that he had
the time, the difference between full fitness and unfitness could
translate into life or death in the war
business
and he
would most likely be going really deep into enemy territory this
time, to the worst of the worst places.

Alex stared at the flat screen television
with sightless eyes as his mind raced with thoughts. He soon came
to a decision, picked up his cell phone from the side stool and
dialed an unusual four-digit number from memory, an old number he
hadn’t had to call since leaving the military and its location was
right there in the city. The call went straight to voicemail and
Alex proceeded to leave a short message.

Once done, he put the phone aside and sat
back to wait for the food.

Soon enough a knock came at the door and it
was room service. His lunch had arrived.

After washing down the wonderful meal with a
bottle of wonderful table wine, Alex took off his T-shirt and, clad
only in jeans trouser and white singlet, lay down on the huge cozy
bed to take a quick nap.

Alex slept for two hours, and then his
in-built alarm clock, another product of his trainings, brought him
awake at about three o’clock. He got hold of Ahmed right away to
show him to the gym where he spent two hours working out vigorously
with the state-of-the-art exercise machines there. By five-fifteen,
he was under a cold shower which refreshed his body completely and
by six o’clock he was dressed in red shirtsleeves, black trousers
and shoes, sitting in the hotel lounge, drinking expensive martini
and reading a newspaper when Mr. Audu showed up to whisk him away
for the meeting.

The military guy was absent this time but it
was the same black Mercedes s-class and the driver in dark suit.
They headed across the city and were soon in the extremely
exclusive residential district of Jabi, where powerful politicians
and sitting Federal senators lived. side by side with
multi-millionaire and billionaire business tycoons. The large
mansions sat on spacious grounds, screened off by well decorated
ultra-secure, high fences and huge gates. The streets here were
broad, well decorated and very well-maintained.

Night had fallen completely by the time the
big Mercedes pulled up in front of a pair of huge black gates and
sounded its horn once. The gates were thrown open swiftly by a
smart looking, uniformed security guard and the Mercedes pulled
smoothly into the spacious grounds of a large compound on which sat
a sprawling white state-of-the-art mansion.

The big car came to a final halt directly in
front of the house and two men in dark suits stepped up quickly to
get the doors open.

Alex and Mr. Audu get out.

The whole compound was well-lit and Alex
could see men in dark suits standing at strategic positions. All of
them were well built men and they were very much on the alert.
Three of them stood close enough for Alex’s trained eyes to pick
out the slight bulges in their jacket, under their left arm, an
indication that they were armed with shoulder holstered pistols.
Alex took in the whole scene swiftly and realized that Alhaji
Mustapha Usman was a billionaire of no ordinary caliber. One of the
suited men stepped in before him, indicating he spread his arms for
a body search and Alex obeyed without question. He knew the routine
for getting past high level security, he had been drafted to such
security detail too many while serving in the military not to, and
he knew too that this particular billionaire had good reason to be
very wary given the rate at which his family member vanishing into
thin air.

The man patted him down quickly with expert
hands and stepped away. Mr. Audu, standing and watching to one
side, took over at once.

“Please come with me, my boss is already
waiting” he said and led the way into the house.

Another armed bodyguard in dark suit standing
at the large front door held it wide open and they walked through
into a large, lavishly furnished, high ceilinged living room. The
place was empty and Alex followed as Mr. Audu continued straight on
across to a wide archway, up the two wide steps and into a second
large living room that was no less lavishly furnished but also
empty. Two hefty bodyguards in suits stood by a set of mirrored
glass double doors and they eyed Alex as Mr. Audu led him over,
pushed the doors easily open and they were through into a third
living area. This one was large too and equally lavishly furnished
but the large glass topped conference table there made it look more
like a confrere room than anything else.

Three men sat talking at the table and Alex
recognized the Alhaji right off. He was seated at the head of the
table and the man seated in the chair to his right was the
military-looking man form the airport, in the chair next to him was
s third man Alex hadn’t seen before.

The three men had stopped talking as Alex and
Mr. Audu entered. The Alhaji, dressed casually in trousers and polo
shirt, sat completely relaxed in his chair, his expressionless face
giving away nothing. The faces of the other men gave away nothing
either.

“Welcome, Mr. Okoye” said the Alhaji as Alex
walked up with Mr. Audu.

“Thank you, sir” said Alex.

“Please, be seated” the Alhaji waved at the
vacant chairs to his left.

Mr. Audu took the chair closest to the Alhaji
and gestured Alex at the other. They sat facing the two men across
the big table.

“Gentlemen” began the Alhaji at once, sitting
forward with a very serious expression on his face and glancing
around at the four men seated at the table before him. “We are now
complete so let us get down to the issue at hand right away, but
first introductions” he gestured at the man seated directly to his
right side. “Mr. Okoye, I believe you’ve already met my head of
security, Rufai”

“Yes, sir, we’ve met” Alex nodded once at the
hard faced Rufai who was dressed in a dark suit and blue
shirtsleeves but without a tie this time.

Rufai returned the nod.

The man had probably been at the airport to
size him up closely with trained eyes, thought Alex with an inward
smile. All the bodyguards he had seen so far, including this chief
of theirs, couldn’t stop him from getting in or out of this place
if he wanted to, he could take all of them apart in style and
within a very short time. This Rufai must have figured things out
because Alex saw something skin to respect in his hard eyes.

“And this is Samuel” the Alhaji was saying,
pointing at the other man sitting next to Rufai. “He’s an Army
Lieutenant like yourself but still in the force. He and his team of
two men will be providing support for you in this mission”

Alex looked at the man, sizing him up
quickly. He was a good looking dark skinned man of about thirty
with a powerful build. His wide shoulders, chest and biceps bulged
with muscles that stretched out the white T-shirt he wore. The calm
dark eyes that stared back at Alex had the arrogant look of a
well-trained fighter with a lot of confidence in himself but you
never really know what someone was capable of until you saw them in
action.

The Alhaji was talking generally now,
gesturing at Alex.

“This is Mr. Alexander Okoye, ex-lieutenant
of the Army commandos. He was Special Forces too and he fought the
insurgents in the north-eastern territories for over three years
until he left the force six months ago. Because of his experience
and knowledge of both the terrorists and territory, he will be the
negotiator and tactical leader of this mission. Rufai will be going
in with you people as a liaison from me, he will have
administrative charge but will not interfere with Mr. Okoye’s
decisions in any manner. As a former Army officer himself, he can
take care of himself out there and the objectives of this mission,
as I precisely wish it, are well known to him. Every equipment that
may be required for this mission is already in place at a safe
house in Maiduguri and in a minute my assistant will outline your
travel arrangements directly from here to the safe house” he
gestured at Mr. Audu. “Rufai will access a safe there at the safe
house to obtain valid military documents to cover the mission. In
the safe also is a briefcase containing the full amount of the
ransom and this, Rufai will hand directly over to Mr. Okoye” the
Alhaji looked directly at Alex. “The last four digits of your
military identification number is the key to the combination lock
on the briefcase and inside, along with the money, you will find an
envelope with transcript records of all the conversations I have
hitherto had with the terrorists along with a phone that has their
contact number already imputed, several pictures of the girl are
also present on the phone to get you personally familiar with your
objective but Rufai knows her perfectly well, having watched her
grow from childhood . You will take up communications with the
terrorists from there on and the responsibility of arranging a
secure meeting place will be yours entirely”

Alex nodded. “What sort of vehicles and
weapons will we be getting?”

The Alhaji waved a hand at Rufai.

“There will be two powerful four-wheel drive
vehicles of different calibers parked within the compound of the
safe house, the decision of which one to be used will be yours
since you are already familiar with terrain of the area we are
headed into” said Rufus. “As for weapons, there are different
kinds, automatic pistols, revolvers and Ak-47s rifles, lots of
ammo, some grenades too and even radio coms. We are going in fully
prepared for a fight if there is one”

“Are there adequate tactical maps of the
area?” asked Samuel.

“Very adequate ones” said Rufai “Everything
you may need form brand new Army camouflage uniforms and boots of
your specific sizes to binoculars and digital watches. The only
things that are not there are dark glasses for the sun, those you
will have to bring if you need them”

“When did you people get the maps?” asked
Alex.

“A week ago” replied Rufai. “We haven’t been
able to get updated versions since but that shouldn’t matter too
much”

Alex said nothing further.

“Basil?” prompted the Alhaji.

Mr. Audu spoke. “You have all been booked on
the same morning flight to Keno airport tomorrow. A trusted
employee of ours will be arranging separate pick ups for each of
you at the airport and then convey you all onward across the state
border to the secure house in Maiduguri”

“Why not fly us directly to Maiduguri airport
and save the land journey?” asked Samuel.

“That airport has been shut down for over two
years now due to the bombing activities of the insurgents” said
Rufai.

“Where were you stationed, lieutenant?” asked
Alex dryly.

“The 23rd based in Warri” replied Samuel. “My
men and I have done several tours of duty in the worst parts of the
Niger-delta”

“Rampaging cultists, pipeline vandals,
illegal oil bunkers and trigger happy youths who enjoy blowing up
things now and then” Alex smiled at him. “What you’ve got down
there is basically part-time mayhem. Up there in the north-east
where the sun often gets so hot it peels the skin off your face,
you’ll meet a full-fledged war with a real warfront, only no one is
really sure where that warfront is because the bloody insurgents
always come pouring out of every direction, north, south, east and,
unbelievably, the west as well. They are incredibly dedicated,
well-armed, well-organized and fully mobilized at a time the
Nigerian armed forces are struggling to reach a reasonable level of
mobilization courtesy of the stupidity of politicians. The soldiers
are outgunned and outnumbered on all fronts, they have to fall back
constantly to avoid having their lines overrun and just when
everyone begins to think the situation is under some control the
terrorists come crawling out of the woodwork in cities and towns
that are supposed to be secure and start blowing things up, only
they’re not using conventional weapons this time, just harmless
looking girls in voluminous hijabs that cover the bombs tapped to
their bodies as they walk right up to their targets and blow
themselves away along with every other person in the vicinity.
Crowded markets, mosques and churches are usually their prime
targets now but when it all began it was the motor-parks and the
airport mainly. The government had to shut them all down very
quickly to save a lot of lives and expensive infrastructure”

BOOK: Dirty Diamonds Of Boko Haram Part 1
6.06Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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