UNTAMED

Part Thirty Six

{I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end.}

     What had just happened? Did he gain her trust only to shatter it because of his uncontrollable emotions? But thinking of what she had said about love made his rage boil.
“Jason where the heck did that unique vacuum cleaner come from?” He asked as soon as he entered Jason’s parlor.
“I was too busy, I forgot to activate earlier” Jason answered.
“Well you just had to activate it at the wrong time because it scared the shit out of her.”
“Why do I feel like it was not only the cleaner that scared the shit out of her?” he heard Wild’s voice making him turn.
They were all online including Ghost.
“Ghost welcome back” he said sitting down.
“You should have called like others” Ghost said.
But from his expression, it was clear he was not trying to accuse him.
“Got a lot on my mind” he said.
“Tamed?” Wild said.
“Got pissed off from what she said Chief told her. I guess I reacted wrongly” he said.
“That is not good at all” Major said.
“But Jason seriously? Do you guys have to mention love in front of her?” he asked facing Jason.
“I don’t get what you mean by that but you have to calm down because we have a serious situation at hand, let’s talk about that later” Jason answered.
“What could be worse than the current situation? I read all the newspapers, I even listened to the records of different radio stations and I’m now the bad one. So what could be worse?”
“Where should I start?” Jason asked.
“The issues are so many. Okay I think we should go chronologically” Wild said.
“Okay, first event is something you need to watch” Jason said.
He pressed something on his legendary tool box and the split screens became one. Next was a news broadcast from African Independent Television.
‘The member representing Oshimili South in House of Representative Honourable Jude Obi has reacted to his colleague, Honourable Esigie’s call for the arrest of a soldier by name Obinna. In a news briefing with journalist, he stated that Honourable Esigie has no right to demand for the arrest of Obinna. Osamudiame Paschal, our reporter has the full details’
The screen changed to Chief Obi sitting down in a conference room with different newspapers, radio and TV microphones. But why Chief Obi? He was the one man in Asaba who was supposed go against him.
‘I am saying Chief Esegie does not have the right to call the army to release Obinna. It is the work of the police to carry out their investigations and if the army have refused to release Obinna to the police, it means they are also doing their investigations. Aside from that, I believe Chief Esigie is not straightforward. At first he said only his properties were burnt and an artifact was missing, now a picture of a girl has resurfaced and Obinna is being accused of kidnapping the girl. I got news that police were at Obinna’s place because they suspect him to have a girl he had kidnapped. Ordinarily, I don’t involve myself in issues like this and there is also the fact that I never had a good relationship with Obinna but I am making this conference because of the way media and news broadcast stations were so quick to take sides. I am from Asaba and I know the said Obinna very well. Before those that call themselves human rights activist carry themselves to barracks to demonstrate their foolishness based on the person crying more than the bereaved, have they sat down to answer these questions I’m about to raise? One, according to the police, witnesses stated that Obinna was seen around the premises few hours before the attack but none said they saw Obinna kill the security men in Chief Esigie’s house and none had said they knew about the girl. Only the landlady knows but there was no statement to prove Obinna took her, yet social media is calling for his head. Two, why all of a sudden, there is a girl involved, how come Chief later became aware his cleaner was missing and not immediately? Three, what would Chief be doing with eleven security men? And what will six men be doing in a compound not inhabited but only visited once? Four Obinna is not from Edo state. He is a proud son of Asaba soil and Delta state. Then how will Obinna be working for his political enemy? I am not saying Chief Esigie is wrong, I am just saying he needs to answer these questions. Except it is not the same Obinna from Asaba, but if the person being accused is the son we know, then I strongly and copiously believe there is something wrong, because Obinna never starts trouble, he only finishes it. Obinna can never become a boy boy to any politician, go and ask the Asagba how many times he tried to recruit him as a bodyguard. Only his mother could control that boy, and after her death, the military had done a lot but Obinna is not money driven. He has been using the old pickup his mother used for business and had never changed it. Obinna did a lot of things but one thing he was not known for was carrying girls. Go there, go to where the police have placed someone to watch his house and see vast amount of land. He was his mother’s beacon and fought off those who wanted to take over that land. Obinna does not involve himself with anything that does not concern him. The soldier all of you are crying for his head, lost his wife protecting the masses who wants his head. The innocent woman was killed by a drug lord. These are the things they face while you sleep comfortably in your homes. He is being accused of kidnapping and possibly raping a girl named Halima. It sounded strange in my ears because this same Obinna almost died protecting two girls from being kidnapped, this Obinna fought for windows who were being oppressed by their families. Of all his escapades here, there was no record of him hurting any girl. I refused to believe and accept that a soldier like Obinna who makes people sleep outside anytime he is around because criminals disappear will go so low as to attempt the murder of Chief Esigie and kidnap a girl for no reason. Let the police tell the media the last time they heard there was robbery in Asaba in the last four months. An incident happened late in the night yesterday. The closest person to Obinna, Mama Sunday who was the best friend of Obinna’s mother was suddenly attacked and the police had called it armed robbery attempt. It does not tally that of all the rich people around, it is a poor window who has a small kiosk that will be robbed. That was exactly what happened to Obinna’s wife Abigail. She was so generous that all the women at Anglican church loved her. The same incident almost repeated itself and if not for a good Intel according to the police, that woman and her family would have been dead. I believe there is something more to this that meets the eyes. If the army is silent, then they have a reason and the masses should not be too emotionally driven to act before thinking. I was so appalled by how social and news media were so quick to join Chief Esigie to ask for the immediate prosecution of Obinna, a soldier who have lost all to protect the same people. Nigerians don’t deserve people like Obinna’
The video stopped and the screen split back to seven.
“But this is good news na” Fast said.
“Not at all. I know he is sincerely in support of Tamed but it has rather worsened the situation” Wild said.
“Tamed, do you know him?” Mark asked.
“Yes, the guy I burnt his farm. I’m surprised he is doing this” He said.
“It is common Tamed. It is mostly the people you did wrong that can defend you because they are the ones who know what you cannot do, and it’s also a form of campaign” Wild said.
“Makes sense now but how has that worsened my situation?” he asked.
“The masses and media outlets were divided on opinions but like I said before, we do not need the masses’ support” Major said.
“Esigie has struck back at Honorable Obi. And this time with evidence that even those who had changed sides are now backing Esigie. Right now, there are paid protesters at army barrack at Abuja” Major said.
“What proof?” Doc asked before he could ask.
“Onos is receiving treatment at UBTH and he was interrogated by the police. He is the evidence. According to him, a girl ran to him at around 7:PM and had begged him to take her to Chief. He was able to call Chief with the phone number she gave. Chief had asked him to help convey her. She had said a giant kidnapped her and wants to kill Chief. But you had trailed her and when he had tried to prevent you from taking her, you broke his hand and knocked him unconscious. Right now, he has granted interviews to so many newspapers and TV stations” Wild said.
“And to worsen the situation, the IG saw Chief Obi’s comment as an insult to the intelligence of the Nigerian police and has personally declared you the suspect of murder, Chief’s murder attempt and Halima’s kidnap and has declared you wanted, just that they cannot get any image of you. Now the international community is interested in this case. BBC Africa read it as their headline” Jason added.
“This is bad” he said placing his hands on his head.
“So the president will definitely ask to meet with Chief, Halima and Tamed and the only evidence we have now is our story. Aside from the marks on her body, we don’t even have proof she was sexually molested” Ghost said.
“And we cannot prove that, even if Halima says so, her words won’t count” Jason said.
“What do you mean Jason?” Major asked before he could ask.
“I looked into Chief and dug deeper into his life, his assets, his family and his health. Chief is impotent. That is he cannot sleep with a woman, he suffered from stroke and it affected him” Jason said.
“Are you saying she…”
“No, I’m not saying she was not raped” Jason interrupted Mark.
“Then is the report fake?” Fast asked.
“No, it’s not” Jason said.
“Then how?” he asked.
“Now I understand why Chief is so obsessed with Halima” Doc said.
“Someone say something” Major said.
“It’s a psychology thing major. The medical report might be true but somehow Chief finds a way to get excited with Halima, there must be something but…”
“I know” he said interrupting Wild.
“Her fear gets him excited, then he also inflicts injury on her for the same purpose” he continued.
And he had made Halima believe that was what love meant. He felt like punching something.
“No wonder he is so bold. He can even accuse you of inflicting the mark” Mark said.
“This is frustrating. Chief is really prepared and legally, we are losing this case” Ghost said.
“The only hope we have now is to stall or get Halima to tell us where we can get the evidence we need which is impossible because we just have exactly today and tomorrow to wrap this off” Wild said.
“I will never allow her see Chief, never” he said.
“We may have no choice Tamed. The only evidence we have is not enough to hold water but it could be used to stall and make the president give us some time to come out with concrete evidence” Major said.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“A video of Chief Esigie at Ojogolo’s place. That was yesterday night. He wants to disassociate himself from them because of the issues raised by Chief Obi. Even John will no longer be following him. He also told Ojogolo not to be hasty with his decisions because his son who is also Chief’s nephew was killed by Tamed. Ojogolo is related to Chief from his mother. Chief told him to carry on with his activities and watch as he destroys Tamed bit by bit” Jason said.
“So if we can play this video to the president he might give us time to get evidence because there is another video of John killing a defaulter in his meeting place. Even if Chief denies being aware of what John does? It will still raise suspicions” Major said.
“Although the president will now be placed between the choices of choosing a road full of lions or a sea full of crocodiles because the nation is now involved” Wild said.
“Don’t forget Chief will raise it at House of Reps meeting. Legally, Chief believes he can get back Halima but he is not aware of the video. The video will not prove him guilty but like Major said, we can use it to stall but if this becomes an open meeting, both Chief and Circle will lose Halima, she will be given to a neutral party but this can destabilize her and even worsen our case because she was made to believe we are holding her hostage” Ghost said.
“So what you are saying is that we need a miracle” Jason surprisingly said.
“Since when did you start believing in miracle?” Ghost asked.
“Since my last mission. The time is too short, if a miracle doesn’t happen, we will be in big trouble” Jason said.
“If Jason says we need a miracle, then there is trouble” Fast said.
“I have directions to twelve of Chief’s different estate scattered across Nigeria. We could at least do something by searching them for any clue” Jason said.
“Okay. Distribute the locations based on our closeness to them lets’ get working. Doc's work is at night so include her. Then try search for old murder cases that has a link to Ojogolo and find out if it would lead to Chief” Major said.
“Roger that” Jason said.
“Tamed, you try more on Halima” Major said.
“I think Cindy did a good job but I’ve messed it up already” he said.
“How much of a mess up?” Jason asked.
“I can’t tell. I need to punch something” he said standing up and leaving the parlor.