

VICTIMS

By

IGOCHE J. IGOCHE

Victims

Published by Igoche J. Igoche

Copyright 2019 Igoche J. Igoche

All rights reserved

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard word of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Foremost, I wish to thank God who bestowed in me the passion to write. I wish to appreciate my family for their supports and my friends for their encouragements and you that will be reading this novel.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to Rev. Fr. Felix Tyolaha and Fr. Joseph Gor and all the victims who have been brutally murdered by the Fulani herdsmen in Mbalom and other parts of Benue State.

CHAPTER ONE

The scorching sun was usually accompanied by a dry wind that was terribly hot and sandy; beyond the Tsuma hill in Nikuru village was a wide fearsome empty land whose end couldn't be seen when gazing from any position in the desert. The nomadic people of Nikuru village craved for rain to fall as it had been over three years that rain dropped in the community; children found it incredible anytime they were told that there was a process that enabled water to drop from heaven; they looked forward to seeing this miracle but hadn't witnessed it. They were usually prompted to ask the question: when would the wonder happen? Their parents found themselves assuring them that rain would fall soon; the soon which had delayed until now.

They had always considered the possibility of the eldest man in the community losing his sanity anytime he insisted that when he was a young boy, the land below the hill was much of a green land and used for grazing cattle. He also claimed that his father told him that the land was used for farming before it became unfertile.

"Tsuma hill a grazing ground!" Yahaya gazed at Baba Usman in astonishment with his mouth widely opened. He seemed amazed as he heard Baba Usman responded to Ahmed when Ahmed complained about the terrible dust raised from Tsuma desert. Baba Usman heard Ahmed when he walked passed his friends as they sat with Ahmed who they came to visit. He was going to sit with the Yunikiru solidarity group. The Yunikiru solidarity group came to Baba Usman's house to console him over the death of his wife who was the oldest woman in the village until her death.

Baba Usman smiled as he perceived Yahaya's expression of astonishment from his exclamation but he didn't stop to explain further as they were waiting for him under the Melina tree and he had to consider the person supporting him as he walked. Being very old, his vision wasn't clear and he didn't have the strength to walk by himself except supported by somebody.

"Why do you sound surprised?" Ahmed whispered since Baba Usman hadn't gone far. "Don't tell me that you're hearing Baba say this for the first time."

"Baba has gone mad again." Ismaila lamented in mockery. "At least, this one we know the cause."

"What do you mean?" Ahmed asked.

"Maybe, his dead wife is revealing things to him; else which normal person will say Tsuma that has been a desert since time immemorial was at a time a green land" Ismaila joked.

"You are the creator of the universe, why won't you say since time immemorial." Ahmed mocked Ismaila.

"So you want to tell me that you believe Baba." Yahaya asked.

"Who do you want me to believe; you that was born yesterday or an old man who has lived for a long time?"

"It's not out of place to be misled by somebody who is foolish most of the times." Ismaila laughed.

"You are the one that is foolish most of the times." Yahaya reacted.

"It's possible that Baba is saying the truth," Ahmed said. "If you have observed very well, you would have noticed that there were many weeds around us when we were growing up than now. I'm afraid that this village will someday become a desert."

"Ahmed, you exaggerate too much; it hasn't gotten to that extent. Is it because Baba said it, that your naïve mind wants to play games with you; like making you see things? I mean things!" Yahaya said.

"You are the one seeing things; and mind you, my mind isn't naïve."

"Only if a madman would accept that he is a madman." Yahaya insinuated and they laughed.

"But aren't you guys seeing it? At least I don't need to tell you for you to accept that rain is not falling, trees are dying, the wind keeps pushing sand towards our settlement and the ground is becoming dusty, there is no grazing ground for our cattle and we can't even take our bathe."

"Ahmed, you mustn't remind us that you haven't taken your bath for a long time now for us to know; I must be sincere, I have been looking forward to the appropriate and most prudent way to say this and thank God you brought this upon yourself." Yahaya lowered his voice. "It's been tough for me to tolerate you sitting close to me."

"Yahaya, what do you mean by that?"

"Yahaya is just being prudent; he is by way telling you that you are not clean." Ismaila laughed. "You stink! No offense." Ismaila said jokingly.

"None taking; just that I'm a bit surprised that you guys are ignorant of your plight so soon."

"Make me understand what you mean because I don't." Yahaya said.

"Me either," Ismaila added.

"We don't have sufficient grasses and water for our cattle to graze and here you are telling me about cleanliness."

"Don't use that as an excuse; after all, how many cattle do we have that the grasses we have are not enough for them?" Ismaila asked.

"Let the truth be told – finding water is difficult now. Thank God for the oasis else what would have become of us?" Yahaya said.

"We don't need to be reminding ourselves about all these things; let's try and spend a moment without thinking about our shortcomings. Let's enjoy the fun of the moment; is that too much to ask?" Musa who had been listening to them said. "And Ahmed" he paused. "You truly stink."

They burst into laughter as Musa sounded hilarious.

"I know you are just pulling my legs," Ahmed said and they laughed.

CHAPTER TWO

The weather condition was becoming harsher every passing day and the only water they could get was the water from the Oasis. If not that alcoholic drink was prohibited in the community, it would have been easier to purchase it than a sachet of drinking water. However, they didn't cease to be human beings as their instinct to survive was pronounced and their immune system adapted to the progressive harsh weather condition. It became tougher for them to graze their cattle in the community. Most of the nomads competed for a space for their cattle to graze around the oasis even though each possessed few cattle. Nevertheless, the competition was resolved as they agreed to graze their cattle together which further boost their communal existence.

The nomads weren't wealthy to possess large herds of cattle. Nevertheless, they were satisfied with the few they had. They compensated themselves with the belief that Allah gave them few possessions according to their scarce resources. They believed that there were goodness and purpose in all Allah's creation which were manifested in every phenomenon that ruled man's existence and Allah had a reason for their impoverished state.

The people of Nikuru village were peaceful. They were not envious of the politicians who governed Nikuru constituency and Grondu Local Government Area. They coexisted peacefully with the neighbouring villages and traded together. If possessing a wide expanse of land was a determinant factor to become rich in Grondu local government, the locals' financial status would have been beyond measure as they were surrounded by desert. Nevertheless, the corrupt leaders in charge of the local government areas and state used the wide desert as an advantage to attract allocations from the government. They falsified the census figures, therefore, collected more allocations from the federal government.

The people of Nikuru village were impoverished. Most of the allocations to the place by the federal government had been siphoned by the political leaders. The leaders were awesomely rich while the masses were pathetically poor. The leaders would come to the village when they intended to manipulate the masses, probably to discover new unproductive places (while the old places previously discovered conspicuously remained undeveloped) that they could use for their political campaign. They would promise that – if reelected, there would be total transformation and the community would develop into an urban city, they would channel their river to the ocean, they would provide grazing ground for their cattle, loans would be given to farmers, their children would be given scholarships and communal differences would be permanently resolved.

On the contrary, the privileged few ensured that the masses remained uneducated and timid. It was the best strategy to keep them exploited and ignorant of their rights and privileges. They funded some religious beliefs that campaigned against adopting western civilization. They preferred they remained mere nomads whose fundamental priority was the welfare of their cattle.

Many people forgot the value of water as it was within their reach, but the people of Nikuru and the neighbouring villages would kill for a cup of water. Politicians that had no convincing blueprint to promote their campaign used common sense by supplying water through water tanks to the villages to convince the villagers that they were capable. The people would only vote for the politicians that could sustain the water supply for a long time. They enjoyed constant water supply during campaign rallies as it would come from different sources. However, when it wasn't campaign periods they were left to suffer. Politicians saw this as an avenue to manipulate the people and they ensured that they thwarted any means to provide a stable water supply when they were elected into political offices.

It had been documented that there were boreholes dug in strategic places in the locality, but in reality, there was none. Due to the scarcity of water, the locals, therefore, had to preserve the little water they had for drinking and cooking which came from the oasis. The children easily got water to drink when the season hadn't gone deep into the dry season and the grasses were alive. Whenever there was heavy dew, the children would tie clothes around their ankles and walked through dew-covered grasses in the early hours of the morning. They would do it repeatedly until the rags were soaked with water which they would empty into a container. They would do it for hours in order to get water sufficient for them to drink whenever it was filtered and would preserve some for other domestic uses. Banana or plantain trees were sources of water for them when they cut down the trunks and scoop out the center of the stump to form a bowl. The plant would pump the bowl with water which they would collect and preserve. They also got water from cutting vines. It was usually tough to get water.

Nikuru village gradually experienced desert encroachment. The Locals were used to tolerating the annoying sounds made by flies around their ears when walking along the streets at day times and mosquitoes bites at nights, the heat from the scorching sun that was really inconveniencing as though they were living in a coal room inside a ship and the frequently mild whirlwinds that raised nothing but dust which made the inhabitants always inhaled contaminated air with a musty smell. Life was tough for them as the weather was always very hot. They would perspire profusely and have no water to take their bathe or wash their clothes.

Alhaji Umar was a renowned trader who had been successfully trading in the region. Most of the politicians in the region invested in his business. Due to his moral principles and experiences, he was accountable and gave them profitable returns. They held him in high esteem. Most of the leaders in the communities and politicians were always ready and willing to invest money in any new business initiative he proposed.

He observed that the nomads from Nikuru village were comfortable with their occupation and made considerable interest when they sold their cattle to buyers. He knew that the nomads didn't have the resources to afford large herds of cattle so he would dominate in the trade. But he would need their services due to their experiences. He would have to convince them.

"I intend to invest in cattle." Alhaji Umar said in a meeting with his investors.

"I have always wanted to ask you to look into that sector anytime we meet, but I usually forget." Hon. Danladi said.

"This man is never a serious man. I'm certain that one day you will forget yourself." Hon. Yusuf laughed.

"Hasn't he already forgotten himself?" Hon. Yakubu joked.

"Thank God you are not the one doing this business else someday we will hear that you've forgotten the capital in the warehouse and forgotten to lock the warehouse." Hon. Yusuf said.

"I don't understand? Are you telling me that I'm not capable of doing business? Let me tell you something – I wasn't always a politician..."

"There you go again! I know you will say that." Hon. Yusuf interrupted. "Okay, what kind of business were you doing?"

"Please, give honorable Danladi some breathing space." Alhaji Umar laughed.

"No, he has always told us that he has been a businessman before and has never told us the kind of business he was into before he came into politics." Hon. Yakubu said.

"How will I tell you the kind of business I do when Yusuf will never give me the chance to speak?"

"So I am the owner of your mouth now, isn't it? Okay, now tell us the business you were doing before you became a politician because I know you very well; except you will tell me that working with the federal ministry of finance was the business you were doing."

"You don't know me well enough else you won't be saying this."

"Danladi, this one that it is taking you too much time to tell us the kind of business you were doing before, implies that you have never done any business outside working with the government." Hon. Ali who had been listening to them said.

"Is it just now you know?" Yusuf laughed. "We worked in the same place; and the way Danladi lavishly spends money on women he cannot succeed in business for a day."

"You so much underestimate me; anyway, I don't blame you."

"The challenge I'm having is the means to convince the people of Nikuru to accept to manage the cattle; they are calm headed and peaceful as compared to the others." Alhaji Umar knew that they were fond of each other even though they were members of rival political parties and would speak awfully about themselves during campaigns. He knew that if he should wait for them to continue to tease themselves, they wouldn't discuss the primary agenda that brought them together for the executive meeting.

"How is that a challenge? Have you spoken to their village head?" Hon. Yusuf asked.

"Yes, I have but he said that they don't permit such practice since they have theirs already. He also said that somebody came to seek for their services before but they weren't willing to do that."

"Those illiterates and peasants with their funny way of life" Hon. Danladi was disgusted. "Can't we look for other people?"

"I have studied them and I discovered that they are better skilled in the art. With their limited resources, they know how to fatten their cows and have gotten great experiences in handling cattle. I would say that they have one spirit with their cows."

"If you say so; else I would have suggested that we use nomads from other villages." Hon. Danladi said.

"There's nothing good that can come from the people of Bachaw, Bitwari, and Senguma who are thieves and cattle rustlers. They are very hostile and can't coexist peacefully with themselves; how will they be loyal to us? But Nikuru people are docile, peaceful and kind and so business can flourish when we use them."

"But they are not the only peace-loving people in this place, are they?" Hon. Danladi asked.

"They are the only nomads we can use and be certain of the safety of our cattle. They can live peacefully with people and are not known for hostile behaviours. They can ensure the safety of our investment."

"Everybody is relevant at a point; otherwise, I wouldn't have had anything to do with those people in my lifetime." Hon. Yusuf said.

"How can you be a good leader when you don't want to have anything to do with your own people?" Hon. Ali asked.

"Don't call those awkward people my people."

"When you want to buy their cows, you don't call them awkward; when you want votes for an elective position you call them brothers. Now you are calling them awkward when you made them to remain like that."

"What is Ali saying; are you not a politician; what has your party done for them?"

"Even though my party hasn't done enough for them, you mustn't call them names."

"I didn't get you, is it the water you take to them during campaign that you say is enough?" Hon. Yakubu laughed.

"He is married to one of them and he has them as in-laws why won't he want to defend them." Hon. Danladi joked.

"I am not expecting that from you; everybody knows that I'm married to your cousin except you're telling us that you are from Nikuru."

"God forbid." Hon. Danladi exclaimed and they all laughed.

"Alhaji, are you sure there is no other way around this thing again?" Hon. Ali asked.

"That is the best option we have if we really intend to make profits."

"Then we buy them over with money." Hon. Danladi suggested.

"You think he hasn't tried that?" Hon. Ali said. They knew that he must have exhausted all the options before he came to them. Alhaji Umar always had everything resolved before he called their attention. Therefore, it implied that this case was difficult for him to handle.

"How about we make them come to us." Hon. Yusuf suggested.

"I don't understand."

"Alhaji, you can never be a politician, now can you? We will make them lose what they cherish most then we will intervene as sympathizers. That's the only way we can penetrate them." Hon. Yakubu said.

"I am still confused." Alhaji Umar didn't seem to understand what they were saying.

"You said there is money to be made if we should invest in cattle, didn't you? And the best people that will ensure the success of the business are the nomads from Nikuru village, isn't it? Next week it will be in your power to select the kind of people you feel are suitable to work for you from Nikuru village." Hon. Yusuf said.

"Those dirty people have eventually become relevant." Hon. Danladi laughed.

"You call them dirty yet you eat their cows and use the ram you buy from them for Sallah celebration." Hon. Ali laughed.

"Is there some connection you have with these people that you are not telling us?" Hon. Yusuf asked and they all laughed about it.

CHAPTER THREE

The politicians needed somebody from Nikuru community to tell them about the village terrain. They wanted to know the places where each family kept their cattle and to be certain of the easiest route to enter the village without damages and casualties. They weren't ready to stoop low to investigate these themselves by associating with any Nikuru person. They had neglected the people of Nikuru village after they were elected into public offices. So they were quick to conclude that the people of Nikuru village would suspect them to have ulterior motives if they should start to show concern and ask questions about their welfare.

They decided to use Aisha who was a retailer and a politician. Aisha organised campaigns and mobilised women for her political party. It would be easy for her to investigate the activities of the Nikuru people as she always went there to buy cattle at cheap prices whenever she wanted to share foodstuffs to families during campaign rallies to convince them to vote for her candidate.

She got to know from the Nikuru woman she conversed with that the people of Nikuru reared their cattle together.

"Do you want me to believe that your people keep all the herds of cattle in your village in one place? That is too much to be kept in just one location now. In short, it can cause a stampede one day and there could be casualties." Aisha was amazed.

"Hajjah, the cows are not as many as you think; how many are they?" Halimah asked a rhetorical question being amused as she saw how astonished Aisha looked. "It's not that all the cows belong to one person. They belong to everybody in the village. So anybody that has a cow there has a responsibility to manage it with others."

"Then how does every herder identify his cattle?"

"Hajjah, is it difficult? Every cow has a mark given to it by the owner to identify it."

"And there are no conflicts; like somebody wanting to claim another person's cow, maybe trying to be dubious and greedy?"

"No; it can't happen." Halimah said convinced and certain. "Hajjah, we have lived like that for a long time. If anybody becomes crafty, he will be expelled from the community; in short, it can't happen." She concluded.

"I must commend the way your people live and work together without attachment to material possessions. You live in peace and harmony as if you listen and are controlled by one true and unbiased spirit. People in other communities will intimidate and kill their brothers to confiscate all these possessions for themselves and deprive others even though it would cause division and conflict."

"There is nothing in this world Hajjah. We came empty and so we shall return. Why attach so much value and importance to something that has no eternity, something that fades away every passing day? One thing alone last forever and that is the love we express that leaves an indelible mark in the hearts of those that have experienced us while we journey through life. We made a choice to love and we instill the virtues of love, humility and selflessness into our children as they grow. They get to appreciate the virtues as they see others practice them while relating with themselves in our community. Therefore, they accept it as the fundamental essence of their existence. It has helped us to live in peace."

"That is wonderful; this world would have been a better place if everybody gets to accept and abide by your principles. But do you people keep cattle anywhere apart from those kept in Mudundu River?"

"That is why I told you that the cows are not much; those cattle you see belong to everyone in the village."

Aisha seemed to have gotten all the information she needed from Halimah. Although she was perplexed as more than two politicians from different political parties showed interest in the Nikuru people. She didn't ask questions as she concluded that they wanted to secure their votes so that they wouldn't have to campaign much during the actual time of the election. She felt that they were doing the right thing as any good deed now would encourage the people to accept to get their voters cards and vote for any of them since they would feel indebted to them. Aisha didn't need to ask Halimah about the safest and shortest route to Mudundu River as she had been going there to buy cattle. After all, the militias didn't need to pass within the settlement as they might be confronted by the villagers.

The politicians were satisfied with the information Aisha provided and rewarded her with the sum of three hundred thousand naira. They presumed she went out of her way to gather the information. Aisha asked to know when her services would be needed. She felt she would be useful when they would want to purchase the cows or when they would want her to take them to the cattle market, in which she would benefit as she would be the one to organise the women. They promised that they would get back to her; a promise which most politicians would never keep.

CHAPTER FOUR

Honourable Yusuf assembled all the militias Mustafa contracted in Zanzariki forest where nobody would see and suspect them. Zanzariki forest was the only forest situated within that locality. It was a hiding place for cattle rustlers and criminals. People didn't always meet there to discuss legitimate businesses but to conspire in order to commit atrocities and crimes. It wasn't difficult for the militias to know the spot they would meet in Zanzariki forest. The militias were from villages that bordered Nikuru village and had camped in the forest to plot and execute crime. Honourable Yusuf disclosed the reason for the meeting to them and was impressed as they were familiar with the cattle market. The militias were categorically told that they should avoid casualties as best they could.

"When you go there, I want you to scatter whatever is holding the cattle together; you can shoot them if you can but make sure they scatter." Hon. Yusuf said.

"Honourable, what if there are guards assigned to guard the cattle; what do we do with them." Mustafa his thug asked. Hon. Yusuf mandated him to lead the militias.

"I didn't think of that." He paused for a moment. "Would they really be that security conscious? After all, I doubt if anything of such has ever happened there before and they won't be expecting anything to happen like that. But if there are guards, scare them the best way possible." Yusuf said.

"Okay; so honourable, when do we go there?"

"I thought you have figured that out by yourselves" He paused to think shaking his head. "I don't think anybody will be awake by 1:00 am, will they? At that time, they must have finished all their activities and retired to sleep."

"Yes, honourable."

"So you will go to the village between 1:00 to 2:00 am, and make sure there are no casualties." He cautioned them before he left.

Mustafa and the other militias hid their weapons inside the forest and came to stay in Wakuma village which bordered Nikuru village. They scattered themselves in the village so that nobody would suspect them. They mingled with those villagers that were supposed to participate in the invasion so the other members of the village didn't suspect the strange faces among them as they felt that they came to visit some members of the village.

They went back to the forest when it was dark and some also came back with Indian-hemp which they smoked and were high. After smoking the Indian-hemp, they became very excited and some wanted to begin to shoot their guns immediately they handled the guns as they were intoxicated and gyrating. It would be tough for them to comport themselves if they would have to enter the village silently. However, they had agreed that they would walk silently within the village premises so that their footsteps wouldn't be heard; unfortunately, it was a resolution they made before the smoking of the cannabis which they didn't seem to remember as they were matching gallantly and confidently when they entered the village. They desired to oppress, intimidate and instill fear in people with the guns they possessed, and walking calmly and unnoticed wouldn't give them the opportunity to exercise the command and will the power they had acquired by possessing guns. They felt that there would be no fulfillment and use for their guns if the villagers didn't see and fear them. There would be no fun doing a silent job when they had all the weapons within their power to intimidate and exterminate anybody that would attempt to resist their authorities. The Indian-hemp made them to feel on top of the world and desired recognition and respect from anyone they would come across.

The villagers heard the unprecedented sound of their footsteps. Some of the villagers that came out wanted to know who they were but hesitated as they presumed that they were sojourners seeing that they walked together and the path they took also led to a neighbouring community that bordered Nikuru Village. The villagers didn't really see the weapons they possessed as it was dark. They didn't bother to speak to them to know who they were since there was a superstition that forbade talking to strangers when it was dark as they could be spirits.

"What's the need for the gun if we can't use it; we should have just come here with a stick instead of carrying this machine without testing it." Hamzah felt he was whispering but he was actually talking loud.

"What did he say?" Gambo who should have heard what Hamzah said since he was closer to him than Faruk, asked Faruk who was walking next to him.

"I didn't hear anything; did anybody say anything?" Faruk asked. His attention wasn't initially there; he was carried away with the satisfaction of being high on Indian hemp. He chose not to concern himself with issues that were irrelevant. Therefore at the moment, anything anybody said was irrelevant if it didn't have to pertain to the use of the gun he possessed and the cattle.

"Are you deaf not to have noticed that Hamzah said something?" Gambo asked Faruk.

"If Hamzah said something, I didn't hear; since you are interested in what he said, ask him to repeat what he said; please, I don't want to be disturbed."

"Hamzah, what did you say?" Gambo asked Hamzah.

"I didn't say anything." Hamzah seemed to have forgotten that he said something.

"Keep quiet!" Mustafa cautioned them. "Do you want these people to notice that we are here?"

They were almost close to Mudundu River when Hamzah began to shoot. They became confused as they suddenly heard the sound of Hamzah's gun. They didn't know what prompted him to shoot.

"Why are you shooting?" Mustafa shouted. He firmly touched him on his shoulder as a gesture to stop him. "What are you shooting at; who told you to shoot?"

"I thought I heard a sound coming from that direction." He pointed ahead. He heard a sound inside his head which no other person among them heard.

"Which sound did you hear? You have just compromised our mission." Mustafa shouted.

The people of Nikuru heard the sound and rushed out. They could recognise the sound of a gunshot since they had been fighting battles against the villagers from the neighbouring villages before they resolved their disagreements and settled themselves amicably. The Oasis that was situated in Nikuru community had also caused conflict in the past as hostile nomads from other communities wanted to take over the place.

They didn't reach Mudundu River before Hamzah who was probably too high to gain full control of himself began to fire at an imaginary object in front of him. Mustafa who couldn't read minds didn't predict his intention else he would have stopped him. The sound of the gun was already heard before he shouted at Hamzah who immediately realized himself.

The locals knew it was an attack and despite the fact that it was a surprise attack, they would have to protect themselves and defend their village. Before now, they didn't understand why people who they had accommodated and cordially traded with in peace and harmony, people they had never offended would become callous and violent after they had won their trust. It was a heartbreaking reality that they came to accept. Nevertheless, they had been successful in repelling aggressive attacks from neighbouring villages but they didn't envisage this attack.

They came out carrying anything their hands could hold, some with sticks others with cutlasses and swords while some had guns that were not as sophisticated as that of the militias. The militias heard their voices and footsteps and didn't wait for Mustafa's instruction before they scattered in order to position themselves against any attack.

The Indian-hemp they took made them to have little or no regard for anybody and they all began to act according to their own discretion and instinct. Anything Mustafa said wasn't regarded as they could barely hear him. They were excited that they had gotten a good reason to use the guns they possessed. They were initially reluctant to accept that they would only use their guns to scare cows rather than use it to threaten and molest human beings. Unfortunately, the Indian-hemp brought out the demons in them as they desired violence and tasted for blood. They were fighters, rustlers, criminals and also nomads which was the reason why Alhaji Umar despised them and didn't want to use them for his investment.

They had a profile for conquering villages, molesting, raping and imposing their principles on the people they conquer. They used their victims' lands for grazing as they would destroy their farm produce and the grazing activities of their cows hardened their soil. They were even the people accused of cattle rustling as some of their youths who couldn't afford a cow would suddenly have herds of cattle. However, they didn't bother but were encouraged as they considered it to be a desert way of life.

They began to shoot randomly and the villagers that were almost approaching them in defense of their territory began to retreat in order to protect their families as most of them had already fallen. Mustafa was very furious and angry as he saw the damage they caused; he shouted that they should stop but they didn't pay attention to what he said. He was overwhelmed since he was the only person that seems to be rational among thirty to forty violent and hostile people.

The militias enjoyed the shooting and were eager to exterminate the villagers; they pursued the villagers to their homes shooting and killing anybody they came across; they were also using machetes to butcher them in order to be satisfied that they were truly dead. Their taste for blood was insatiable. Unfortunately, the villagers had no bush or forest to run to but to enter their houses; the militias followed them and set fire on each of their houses as they waited upon them to come out of their houses suffocating after which they slaughtered all of the men, women and children alike. They burnt everything they could lay their hands on to the ground and there was no survivor.

They didn't kill the cattle; they took it. Mustafa seeing the damage felt that taking the cattle would make honourable Yusuf happy. He would have to tell honourable Yusuf that the villagers attacked them and they fought in defense; however, the massacre didn't seem to be self-defense but an attack.

CHAPTER FIVE

Honourable Yusuf was disappointed in Mustafa when he broke the news to him; he didn't actually care about the lives that were lost but was bothered that the Nikuru people wouldn't be available to manage their cattle.

"Are you sure we will succeed in this cattle business? I heard that Nikuru village was attacked and everybody was wiped out." Hon. Ali sounded as if he had no prior knowledge of the attack before it happened.

"It can't be everybody; there would definitely be some in diaspora." Hon. Yusuf laughed. "At least, they should be security conscious enough to encourage some of their people to live outside their community; after all, they are nomads"

"Would those crude people know that? The only thing they understand is the language of cows." Hon. Yakubu laughed.

"That is the language we needed for this kind of investment and unfortunately they are no more." Hon. Danladi laughed.

Alhaji Umar was astonished as he saw them laughing over the death of the people under them as if they were mosquitoes. He wondered the kind of leaders they were that would make a caricature of people that died such horrible death; no wonder, everybody couldn't participate in active politics.

"We would have to use the other nomads for the business; or Alhaji, what do you think?" Hon. Ali asked.

"No" Alhaji Umar exclaimed. He was annoyed and couldn't hide his disgust. "We can't do the business with those nomads from Bachaw, Bitwari and Senguma."

"Why? They are nomads and they have been with cattle maybe even more than the Nikuru people that you hold in high esteem."

"What make the greatest differences are their principles and beliefs; I don't trust them."

"Alhaji, what is this with these principles you talk about? They can learn it, can't they? They can begin with the cattle Mustapha brought back from Nikuru village; we can use that to test them to see if they are capable." Hon. Yusuf suggested.

"That's something; after all, we haven't invested anything yet and if they mishandle it, we will have nothing to lose and only then, can we conclude that it's not a good investment."

"You have already bought cattle?" Alhaji Umar seemed to be lost.

They laughed as the saw the amazement on his face.

"The attack on Nikuru people was masterminded by us just that things didn't go as planned." Hon. Yusuf said. "But we can still look at the bright side; we have gotten some cows that we can use without necessarily investing anything. That is why I think we should try the nomads from Senguma village; I believe they are better."

"I don't think I'm interested; you can do it if you want but I can't invest my money in it." Alhaji Umar felt disappointed to know that they were responsible for the attack but didn't want to express his disappointment for them to conclude that he was weak. He really sympathized with the Nikuru people and felt guilty that he brought the mishap upon them. He wished he hadn't suggested the investment in the first place. Perhaps that was the reason why he couldn't be a politician.

"I don't understand; are you not the one that initiated the business idea? Why is it that now that we are interested you are backing out?" Hon. Yusuf seemed perplexed.

"I don't just feel like investing in it anymore. I wouldn't want to... "

"You have been very good in managing our businesses." Hon Ali interrupted. "We would be most happy if you should reconsider managing the cattle investment for us." He appealed.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful but I don't think I can manage it for you. I will just have to continue with the former businesses."

"Okay, then we will have to manage this one by ourselves." Hon. Yusuf was disappointed but they couldn't compel Alhaji Umar since he had been managing their investments for a long time and he had been faithful to them.

Alhaji Umaru left their premises heartbroken and guilty; he wished he could turn things around. He had studied the Nikuru people and admired their principles which was the reason why he chose them; he felt that by involving them, he would open opportunities for them to develop and the politicians would be attracted to them and be compelled to provide some basic amenities for them but unfortunately, the people didn't see this and he marveled as they didn't desire it which made him wanted to use them.

CHAPTER SIX

The politicians decided to take the risk without Alhaji Umar's involvement. They decided to invest in the cattle for amusement and not for the money since their minds had already been conditioned to believe that Alhaji Umar was the only reliable person that could assure them of a good investment. They felt that Alhaji Umar had probably seen some shortcomings in the cattle business; therefore, they would be foolish to still invest much money in it. They finally chose to invest small capital in the cattle.

Hon. Yusuf volunteered to manage the cattle investment for the politicians who were interested in investing in the cattle. He charged Mustafa who usually ran errands for him with the responsibility to recruit nomads that would effectively rear the cattle for them. Mustafa engaged some of the militias that were nomads and some nomads from Senguma who were comfortable with the terms and conditions of the contract.

Hon. Yusuf preferred that the cattle should be grazed in an open field; he tried to convince his colleagues that the cost of maintaining a ranch would be very expensive considering the nature of their environment and the inadequate rainfall.

"I will prefer we build a ranch and keep the cattle inside; that will save us lots of trouble." Hon. Ali said.

"Which kind of trouble are you talking about?" Hon. Yusuf asked.

"I don't know; the cattle can be attacked by wild animals in the forest, there may be disagreement with communities where the cattle are openly grazed and the people may attack the cattle, and how sure are we that these Nomads wouldn't steal the cattle. Remember Alhaji Umar expressed his distrust for the people of Senguma."

"Ali, as you are insisting on ranching; I hope you are ready to bring the money because I don't have any money for that." Hon. Yakubu said.

"I don't have a problem with the open grazing, where I can't reconcile is whether any community head will accept to give our people access to their community just like that? Remember, those that will be raising these cattle will not be members of these communities and many communities don't tolerate outsiders in their places; worst still, people that are bringing lots of cows into their communities that they may see as a nuisance."

"Danladi, you are right; who would give strangers such privilege? They may feel insecure having our nomads around them and when they want to strike, it will be our cattle that they will go for."

"Ali, I know you have made up your mind on ranching but open grazing is a risk we have to take since we don't have that money to spend and remember, campaign rallies are around the corner." Hon. Yusuf said.

"What about the communities that our cattle may be grazing?" Hon. Ali asked.

"I don't understand?" Hon. Yusuf was perplexed. "What about them?"

"What if they are hostile and don't tolerate cattle in their communities."

"I'm telling you that we should consider these cattle as our valuable assets and we should do all we can to protect them. Most community leaders can be enticed with money and when the leaders are captured, the people are automatically captured." Hon. Yusuf laughed.

"So are we going to be giving our nomads money again?" Hon. Ali asked.

"This is the problem with Ali, you fear too much; how will you feel when someday, you are a proud owner of more than one thousand cows. Ali, I'm telling you that your people will worship you if they know that you own such large herds of cattle. I want you to see these cows as part of your household and you should do anything to protect the members of your household even if it means killing for them." Hon. Yusuf said.

"Even if it means killing for them, I like that spirit!" Hon. Yakubu exclaimed. "That's the spirit of someone who is really ready to be successful." He laughed.

"Let's build our empires and spread our investments; by that, I mean we will penetrate any community if we really want to. All we will need is to find one greedy leader and leverage on that."

"Yusuf, you are very funny; when I remember you saying that we should see the cattle as our household, it makes me laugh." Hon. Danladi said laughing.

"We have to make the nomads understand that our cows have more value than human beings and they should protect it even at the cost of their lives. Cattle will give us dignity and prestige in the society; however, human beings are liabilities."

"Yusuf, you're thinking what I'm thinking; do we need to buy weapons for them?" Hon. Yakubu asked.

"I have gotten that figured out; you should relax and see your dynasty grow."

The nomads were rewarded with one cow out of every twenty cattle and would have to forfeit their cow if any of the cattle should fall prey to wild animals, reptiles or be stolen. Hon. Yusuf and his colleagues were not ready to entertain any explanation that could cause them to incur any loss in their investment. They would want to show their counterparts that they had great investments in livestock and the greater their number of cattle the more they demanded respect.

Mustafa cautioned the nomads being aware of their criminal tendencies; he told them to consider their lives to be of less value than the cattle in their custody. He assured them that the repercussion for mismanagement without genuine and convincing explanation would be grave.

There was no good grazing ground for the cattle in most of the communities in Grondu local government. However, they managed to feed the cattle as they went to other communities outside Grondu Local Government Area that had green pastures due to frequent rainfall. Initially, there was little or no challenge grazing their cattle as they were few in number but they started having challenges when the cattle began to increase in numbers and more wealthy people invested in the business after they heard the owners of the cattle bragged about their large herds of cattle. They nomads had more responsibilities and recruited more nomads.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The nomads had money in their possession to spend at their disposal and enticed village heads with money before they entered their villages to graze their cattle. The money they had, made them more confident to enter any village and negotiate with their leaders. They approached village heads that had good grazing ground with various species of grasses that their cows could graze. Some of the nomads assumed that with the money they gave the village leaders, they had bought their lands and possessed every right to graze their cattle anywhere they wanted even in the villagers' cultivated farmlands that the owners were hoping for harvest.

The victims whose farm produce were eaten by the cattle usually complained and the nomads were always ready and willing to pay for the damages which eventually maintained the peaceful coexistence between the nomads and the host villages where they grazed their cattle.

The politicians and those that invested in the cattle were satisfied with the progress of their investment and became sentimentally attached to the satisfaction attained from the awareness that they had plenty herds of cattle; therefore, they were willing to give more money and aids to ensure that their cows kept multiplying. It became a competition among them; most times, the owners were reluctant to give the nomads the permission to sell the cows. Some tried to convince their colleagues to sell some of their cows to them but failed. They loved the reputation of being acknowledged as a wealthy man that had more than two thousand herds of cattle.

They bragged about their wealth and assets among their friends and strangers in social gatherings. They were always fond of comparing their net worth with other wealthy people; they also used it to determine their class and status in the society. Their outspokenness indeed attracted more people to the business. The investment expanded greatly and the nomads had so much money and responsibilities to find the best pasture for their cows that they could buy the conscience of any leader in any village they stayed to graze their cattle.

Some of the nomads being troublesome would prefer that their cattle fed on the locals' farm produce than to feed on mere grasses in the villages; they usually led the cattle into the locals' farmlands to graze when they noticed that the locals were not in their farms. Unfortunately, some locals had already gotten their expectations as they had hoped that their farm would produce a bountiful harvest at the end of the season only to come to the farm and see cattle grazing on their farm thereby turning all their farm produce upside down.

The nomads were ready and willing to pay anytime any local complained that their farm produce had been destroyed by their cattle; they had the money to pay. However, most locals in most villages were not comfortable with such development as they felt deprived of the joy and fulfillment of seeing their farms yield as expected which they felt was a benefit and satisfaction for their hard work. They wanted to beat their chests and appreciate themselves for being hardworking and successful from the amount of farm produce they harvested.

They also complained that their soil had become hardened from the stamping of the cattle on the soil which had made the soil unsuitable for some of the farm produce they had been farming before the advent of the nomads.

They became hostile towards the nomads and the nomads continued to give the village heads money in order to continuously gain favour from them.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The nomads had been in Botuwaraila community for more than ten years now and they had been living in peace and harmony as they were quick to settle their differences. The nomads at times directed their cattle to enter and feed on the villagers' farm produce which usually caused controversies, but the nomads were always willing and ready to compensate them for any damage their cattle caused them. However, that wasn't enough as food became scarce and farmers felt that they were being robbed and deprived of their rights and privileges. They felt that the nomads were domineering and trying to impose their principles on them. They had also lost confidence in some of their community heads who they suspected to have been collecting money from the nomads and some of the heads had the nomad's daughters as wives as well.

Gowon didn't come to his farm on time; he was inspecting the barn that he built in his house. He intended to begin harvesting his cassava today. He was convinced that he would have a good harvest this year as his cassava plants had fine and healthy looking stems and leaves. He had promised his wife that he would provide the best baby materials for the baby his pregnant wife carried. He married the love of his life last year and he was always happy anytime he saw his pregnant wife. He had already given the child in his wife's womb a name; he was convinced that the child would be a girl and he would call the child "Habibah" which meant "beloved". That was his wife's name. Gowon always said that he appreciated the greatness of God from the wife he married; there was no better idea he conceived than the thought of Habibah and how privileged he was to have finally married her. His love for her grew every day as Habibah's countenance, vivaciousness and temperament affirmed the conviction he had that she was definitely the right person for him. Habibah was prudent, accommodating and respectful and everybody appreciated her. He felt that she was the end of love. Their perfect union was apparent that everybody in the village saw and appreciated.

Her radiant ebony skin and beauty made most men wanted to marry her but were unfortunate as they saw that she loved Gowon. Although most of them were offended but had to accept their fate as they continued to experience her kindness. All the ladies in the community would want to be married to the person they truly loved as Habibah was, and all the guys admired Gowon for finding his right partner as he was always filled with great sense of humour when he appreciated her entire being to be beyond comparison in the community. Gowon usually spoke elaborately about the faculties she possessed adoring from her hair to her toes. Young men would always want to find an equal match to his description but found the standard unattainable and over exaggerated. However, Gowon would poetically proof how Habibah possessed the qualities he attributed to her and why she remained unmatchable and exquisite. They had given up in trying to prove to Gowon that there were other ladies who were more beautiful than Habibah but Gowon would always give them exhaustive reasons why there was none and would always make them to desire to be in his place.

Gowon after satisfactorily inspecting the barn came and sat with Habibah on the mat. He placed his ears on her stomach as he intended to hear the sound of the child's kick in Habibah's womb.

"I think Habibah is kicking very hard today," Gowon said as he placed his ear on Habibah's stomach.

"Are you sure you heard any sound; because the person carrying the baby didn't feel any kick." Habibah laughed.

"Look at how resplendent you are when smiling," Gowon said as he raised his head and gazed into Habibah's eyes. He stretched his hands and gently took Habibah's hands. "God has destined you to be my beloved which is why he specially announced the name through your parents when they named you the lovely Habibah. I have never completely figured out the extent that I love you."

"You keep saying this; don't worry you will soon be tired of me."

"Even when my heart stops beating and my soul stops yearning, and everything becomes null and void, I will find you; I don't know how but if there is consciousness in me, then it is you."

"I can see that you love me so much because your eyes always give you away before your lip confesses it." She exposed her glamourous beautiful aspect and delicate face that was always impactful to Gowon's very soul as she smiled with a great sense of humour. "You are the only thing I am certain about and it is what I have come to live for."

"You don't know what you have done to me; I just feel like to sit with you and watch you all day but I have to go and check my harvest." He sighed. "A second away from you is like an absence of life."

"I have heard you said this more than a million times." She smiled and took a deep sigh of relieve. "Is it not too late to go to the farm today? The sun is already out. Maybe you should go tomorrow." She calmly suggested.

"I would have loved to as it will give me the opportunity to sit here with you and count my blessings but I want to start harvesting today so that by next week I will probably be done with the first set."

"But you can start the harvesting tomorrow and still meet up."

"My love, if I should wait until tomorrow, something might come up that may cause me not go to the farm; so it's best I use this moment that I am sure of than wait for tomorrow that is yet to come. Don't worry; I won't stay long because I can't imagine you being bored. So I will be back sooner than you think."

"Okay; just make sure you don't stress yourself too much."

"I won't" he smiled. "I know I love you."

"I know I love you too." She said smiling with a great sense of humour.

Gowon stood up from the mat and went to the left corner beside his house where he usually kept his farm implements to get his hoe and cutlass. He got them and began to walk towards the road.

"So you're seriously leaving without saying goodbye to the baby. You want the baby to be sad with you, don't you?"

He turned back immediately "I'm so sorry". He took a deep breath to really express his emotion; although he was acting. "That's an unforgivable negligence that I pray will never repeat itself again."

"So you're not remorseful?" Habibah joked.

"Of course, I am; I meant it when I said 'I pray'; except you have a problem with the word then I can use something else." He pretended to be pondering. "Let me see; what will you have me use that will be suitable?"

"I believe in you." She laughed. "Any word you use is just perfectly okay."

He bent down and kissed Habibah's stomach. "Don't miss me too much because I will soon be back; be well my Habibah." He whispered.

Habibah smiled as she saw his gesture; they both felt the height of fulfillment and joy that they wished they could hold the time to a standstill and make this moment last forever.

"My love, please take care of my jewel while I'm away; I know I can't stop loving you."

"Please don't stay long."

"I won't." He smiled and was profoundly happy. It was a good feeling to know that you were truly loved.

CHAPTER NINE

Gowon was surprised and disappointed when he entered his farmland and saw cattle scattering and eating his farm produce and harvesting his cassava plants. He was furious as he picked up a stick from the ground and began to hit the cows attempting to drive them away from his farmland. The Nomads saw him and were amused as they began to laugh at him which made him more furious. They mocked him and he felt sad and embarrassed. He began to hit the cows harder to leave his farm and kept shouting to scare them away. The cows were instead scattering as they bellowed.

The nomads were more concerned about their cows and felt that Gowon wasn't worthy to touch their cattle; worse still, to hit their cattle which they believed had more value than him. Mahmud who was one of the Nomads matched to him and aggressively pushed him.

"Why are you hitting my cows?" He angrily asked him.

"Can't you see that this is my farmland and they are eating my cassava plants?" Gowon replied.

"Nobody has a land in this country; we are all members of the same country and our cows can eat anything anywhere." He shouted and the Nomads who could hear them laughed.

Gowon was disappointed at Mahmud who was just a young boy for being so rude even when he was doing the wrong thing and was supposed to apologize and immediately refrain from his wrongdoing. He scornfully looked at Mahmud and ignored him. He continued to hit the cows to leave his farmland.

"Stop hitting those cows!" Mahmud shouted walking closer to him as if he intended to hit him.

"Then take your cows from my land!" Gowon shouted.

"I won't take the cows away."

Gowon didn't want to converse with him any longer; he didn't want to incur more damage than the one the cattle had already done so he was bent on chasing the cows. The cows were running so he followed them up as he continued to hit them.

"I am warning you for the last time; don't hit these cows again." Mahmud angrily followed Gowon as he was moving.

"Take your cows from my land!" Gowon said looking pathetic, anxious and confused. He was exhausted as he couldn't stop the cattle from feeding on his farm produce. The damage the cattle did was already much and he had to control them if he would have anything to harvest this farming season.

"They have to finish feeding before I will take them away and there is nothing you can do about it." Mahmud was arrogant.

Gowon didn't know what to do; he was afraid as all he had hoped and planned for would wither away all of a sudden in his very eyes. He began to cry as he persisted in chasing them away.

Mahmud went and pushed him. "Get out of here!" He shouted.

Gowon, who fell on the ground due to Mahmud's push, quickly stood up and wanted to chase the cows again but before he could touch any of the cows with his stick, Mahmud removed his dagger from its scabbard where it was hung around his waist, stabbed and pushed him to the ground. Gowon started bleeding immediately as he felt a sharp pain inside his stomach where he was stabbed.

"I was thinking you will allow him to intimidate you and go scot free." Hasan who was among the Nomads laughing shouted in excitement.

"Finally Mahmud has been fully initiated into the league of men." Gambo extended his right hand pointing at the direction where Mahmud was standing. "There goes Mahmud's first kill!" He laughed.

"If I were the one confronting that fool, I wouldn't have allowed him to touch these cows before I finish him." Hasan boasted.

"Then why didn't you go in the first place?" Gambo mocked Hasan.

"Mahmud mustn't remain a baby always; we have to give Mahmud a chance to grow."

Gowon began to crawl on the ground as he was becoming dizzy due to the loss of blood; he was crawling towards the path that led to the village settlement. He would love to go home. Death seemed to be calling him and he was too committed and attached to his family, friends and the world to willingly submit to death. He wished he didn't confront Mahmud in the first place as the fear of dying overwhelmed him. He was remorseful as he thought about the welfare of his wife and unborn child and kept crying as he realized that his end was before him and he would never see the beautiful face of his beloved Habibah and unborn child again.

"Mahmud, what are you waiting for? Give that man a quick death and spare him the pain." Hasan shouted amusingly.

"Let me see if Mahmud is truly ready for this." Gambo laughed. "This is where I will finally confirm that he is a man."

"He may feel sympathy for him and begin to choke." Hasan laughed. "I have seen many people choke before completing their first kill."

"Like you did, isn't it?" Gambo laughed.

"You should know that I'm too brave for that; I'm born a man from birth." Hasan boasted.

"You are a big fat liar."

Mahmud kept looking at Gowon as if he felt sympathy for him; he seemed to be filled with remorse to have stabbed Gowon. He kept staring at him as Gowon continued to crawl on the floor and moan. He saw the way life was draining out of him and Gowon struggled to resist. Gowon had commitments and desired to live. He had a different approach to life; contrary to the nomads who saw life as nothing but just a mere passage to another realm.

"This guy can never stop being weak, now can he?" Hasan said as he walked towards Gowon and used the dagger in his hand to stab him repeatedly on his stomach. "You have to grow up Bro." He shook his head as he felt disappointed in Mahmud for being too weak as to sympathise with somebody who shouldn't be worthy to touch their cows.

CHAPTER TEN

Habibah had never felt this kind of distress before; she was having some sort of contradictory feelings. She seemed to be unintentionally convinced that something probably ill had happened to Gowon but her mind wouldn't want to acknowledge it, therefore, she was determined to repress and deny the feeling as she didn't want it to happen in reality. She felt that she was just having a bad thought and rebuked it immediately but it persisted. Thus, she suddenly felt the strong desire to know about the welfare of Gowon. She wanted to be sure that he was fine. "Which kind of strange feeling is this?" She felt awkward and unsure of herself.

"Let me go to the farm." She said as she stood up and folded the mat she laid on. She took the mat inside the house, arranged the things scattered around the house and locked the door. She kept feeling discomfort as she continued to walk to the farm.

"Good afternoon Hajjah." She curtsied as she greeted Hajjah Maimuna who seemed to be coming from the farm.

"Good afternoon my daughter. Where are you going to under this scorching sun?" Hajjah Maimuna wasn't comfortable as she saw her walking under the scorching sun in her condition.

"I am going to the farm to meet my husband."

"You don't have to do that." She quickly reacted in disapproval. "He is not going anywhere when he finishes from the farm, is he? You can tell him anything you intend to when he comes back. This is the time you need more rest and you should know that you are easily prone to sickness in this your condition; or is there something else that is disturbing you?"

"I am having a strange feeling that something is not okay with him."

"You love him and it's normal to have such feeling of insecurity; this feeling of concern for your loved ones. We, women, have that a lot; and believe me when I tell you that this one is just a tip of the iceberg; there is more that will come when you start having children."

"But I haven't felt like this before; I was suddenly consumed by a strong feeling of fear and uncertainty that something bad has happened to him and I want to be sure that he is really okay."

"One doesn't doubt the instinct of a pregnant woman, but it will be wrong to allow you go to the farm alone. I will accompany you."

"No Hajjah, you don't have to inconvenience yourself; and you must have scheduled your time for another commitment."

"Am I not the one that said I will accompany you? There is nothing more important than to be with an expectant mother."

"Thank you very much Ma; this is very kind of you."

They both walked to the farm and Hajjah Maimuna didn't stop sharing her experiences in her husband's house; she spoke elaborately about the joy she felt when she gave birth to her first child. She claimed that she was a stranger in her husband's house until she gave birth to her first child which gave her the voice to speak and the authority to claim rights and privileges in her husband's house. She insisted that any married woman that was yet to give birth to a child could be sent away at any time from the man to whom she supposedly married. She claimed that nothing became yours in your husband's house until you had a child, and only then would you build your walls and defend your territory. She acknowledged that there was more tension and anxiety at the initial stage of marriage in this part of Africa when a lady couldn't get pregnant in the first year of her marriage and if she wasn't careful the pressure from her family, friends, and in-laws would want to drive her mad. She said she didn't give birth to any child neither was she pregnant nor had any miscarriage within the first three years of her marriage; she insisted, it was an awful experience and she wouldn't pray for such to happen to any lady. That after the second year of her marriage, she had all her clothes intact inside her bag and would always wash the ones she wore each day and would arrange it inside the bag since she always expected that her in-laws would tell her to leave the house at any moment. She even said that she tried to console herself by telling her friends that she wouldn't have any problem leaving her husband if that was what her in-laws should come up with; however, deep within her, she was burning and dying in depression. She felt that happiness was a strange feeling that would never be found in this world and there was no use living. Even when her in-laws weren't complaining and were silent, she felt they were suppressing their feelings of hate and anger and would explode anytime soon. She was always afraid and she tried to understand and interpret the motive behind any gesture demonstrated by her in-laws even when their intentions were for good. However, she congratulated Habibah for being fortunate to have gotten pregnant within the year she got married.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

They were close to the farm and were astonished to see cows grazing on the farmland; they didn't see Gowon since he lay on the ground, after all, they didn't expect to see him on the ground. As they went closer to the farmland, they saw Gowon lying lifelessly on the ground with blood all over the ground around him and his intestine gushed out. There were flies perching on him and making disgusting noises.

Habibah screamed and began to wail; Hajjah Maimuna tried to hold her back as her instinct immediately told her that the people that could be this cruel to commit this hideous crime could be close by and would likely want to do the same to them. She became weak as she couldn't hold her tears either and her legs became cold; it was really a pathetic sight. She fell on the ground with Habibah as the grip of her hand relaxed. Habibah's voice was loud and Hajjah Maimuna too was crying loud.

The Nomads heard their voices and came closer as they weren't far; they feared that their screaming would attract attention. Therefore, they had to act as fast as they could to stop the noise which if permitted would attract people to come and inquire. Hasan didn't waste time when he came closer to them but stabbed Habibah whose voice was louder on her stomach. He was swift as he repeatedly inserted the dagger into her stomach. Gambo held Hajjah Maimuna on her covered hair as he grabbed the veil and her hair together. He used his dagger to slit her throat. Their helpless bodies shook a bit as life left them with blood gushing out of their opened parts before they finally died.

"We have to leave this place before the villagers come." Mahmud was afraid.

"You have started again, haven't you?" Hasan laughed as he inserted his dagger inside Habibah's stomach.

"Hasan" Mahmud was astounded. "What are you doing?"

"I want to know the sex of the baby in this woman's womb." Hasan used his dagger to tear Habibah's lower abdomen and used his hand to bring out her intestine and blood kept gushing out.

"Hasan, you will never cease to amaze me; your insatiable taste for blood is something else. What do you want to do with it when you know it?" Gambo asked laughing.

"I am just being inquisitive and if the baby looks like a boy, I will slit his throat because it is a warrior's death. That is the honour Mahmud failed to accord to that man." He shook his head disappointed at Mahmud as he pointed at Gowon's corpse.

"What if he is a girl?" Gambo asked laughing.

"I will show leniency and leave her; maybe she will survive."

"Anything inside that body is already dead because of the way you stabbed her; let us be going." Mahmud kept looking around to see who could be seeing them.

"Mahmud, you fear too much. You can go if you want; we will be coming behind you." Gambo said.

"Mahmud, are you sure you don't want to see this? You may not be privileged to see this again in your lifetime." Hasan laughed.

"I am going." Mahmud resolved to leave as he started to walk away from where they were.

"Then take the cows along; we will be coming behind you," Gambo said.

Mahmud hurriedly gathered all the cattle together and was hitting the stubborn ones hard. "Hei! Hei! Hei!" He kept shouting as he was gathering them together. He didn't care to check what Hasan was doing but proceeded to the bush with the cattle. That was where they settled. They Nomads weren't living with the locals; although they mingled with them in the market, river and they played together in the village square.

It hadn't been long Hasan, Mahmud, Gambo and some Nomads came to Botuwaraila community; they were from the families of the militias that attacked Nikuru community. They were more hostile as compared to the other Nomads that had been living in Nikuru community. Nomads that had stayed in Botuwaraila community resisted their coming when they initially came as they were aware of their hostile behaviours and vicious attitude but they promised that they would coexist in peace with the locals; however they didn't seem to keep to that promise. They believed that anywhere they entered, they should suppress the locals and the locals should only act according to their biddings; an ideology they weren't successful in promoting which was why they found themselves moving from one community to another yet they hadn't given up on it.

Sani heard Habibah screamed and was coming to inquire the reason for the screaming but was quick to hide when he discovered that there were two women slaughtered on the ground and another man lying lifelessly and three Nomads standing with daggers in their hands stained with blood. He knew that they were Nomads from the kind of clothes they wore and the cattle around. However, he couldn't approach them since he wasn't with any weapon. He decided to run back to the village to inform and mobilize them before coming back.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Hasan used the dagger to open Habibah's stomach by tearing the stomach through the lower abdomen. He inserted his hand inside her stomach as he created an opening wide enough for his hand to enter. He was wild and brutal as he removed the intestine to create a wider opening for him to see the womb. He tore the uterus open and used the dagger to cut all the cords that connected the child with the womb. Everywhere was covered with blood but Hasan didn't care; he was bent on bringing out the child.

"You are an animal." Gambo mocked him.

"If you mean to say that I am a man, I would say thank you for the heartwarming compliment." He laughed.

He brought out the child and looked at the child closely but didn't seem to get the actual sex of the child as the child was covered with blood.

"What sex do you think this thing is?"

"I don't know."

He ruthlessly cleaned the blood from the child's body as he rubbed Habibah's cloth on him very hard so that he could see all the organs of the child.

"The thing is a boy." He said.

"We have stayed here for long; somebody may come here and find us. Drop that thing on the floor let's go."

Hasan used his dagger and chopped off the child's head. He was about dropping the body on Habibah's chest when the people Sani went to call entered the farm. Hasan and Gambo didn't expect them and they didn't seem to have heard their footsteps else they would have ran off and gone far before they came.

Immediately they saw the villagers, they quickly stood up and began to run; the villagers didn't wait but chased them. Some of the villagers were very fast and no matter how fast Hasan and Gambo ran, they still caught up with them as they didn't really understand the terrain. They began to beat them immediately after they caught them and dragged them to the farm where the corpses of Gowon, Habibah, and Hajjah Maimuna laid.

The villagers were all crying; even the men that felt that expressing emotion through shedding tear was a sign of weakness were crying. It was indeed a pathetic sight.

"What are these people?" Jibril lamented as he wept. "Which human being would do this kind of thing to another human being?"

More people came as they heard their wailing; they were dumbfounded as they saw the remains of Gowon, Habibah and Hajjah Maimuna. What broke their hearts the most was the baby that was brought out of Habibah's womb and slaughtered.

Hasan and Gambo were lying on the ground partly conscious as they were thoroughly beaten. Jibril Gowon's close friend couldn't control the rage that consumed him. He was initially squatting on the floor crying close to Gowon's corpse when he disdainfully looked at Hasan and Gambo. He picked a cutlass from the ground and stood up violently. He became wild; he was huge and muscular, so there was nobody that could hold him as he matched to where Hasan and Gambo were staying.

Hasan saw the rage and fury in his face and quickly understood that he wouldn't survive; he wished he could beg the villagers to intercede and appeal to Jibril to spare his life as he was afraid to die, but he was conscious that nobody will sympathise with him. Those that killed seemed to be greatly afraid to die. Hasan began to cry and urinated on himself. Jibril was more furious as he saw Hasan attempting to beg. He swung the cutlass on his right hand and picked his head immediately. The head rolled in the air as it was dismembered from his body and blood rushed out like a running tap from his throat.

Gambo was petrified as he saw what happened to Hasan. He wished he could speak but words couldn't come out; his body was stiffened as the blood in his system seemed frozen. He could only rotate his eyeballs that weren't seeing anything but the immediate reality of death. Everything seemed to have forsaken him even things that once amused him weren't pleasing anymore. If a dismembered head could see; his that was rolling as Jibril cut it off with his cutlass would have been ashamed of his pitied lifeless body that could only jittery and gush out blood.

They made a raft from branches of trees and leaves in order to carry the corpses to the village; they continued to cry as they followed the corpses to the village. The youths were agitating to attack the Nomads immediately the corpses were laid in the village. But Muhammad advised that the corpses should be buried before any action would be taken.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Mahmud went to the Nomad's settlement and everybody that was around was surprised to see him with bloodstains on his cloth. He looked frightened and the Nomads without being told suspected that he had done something. They were convinced that something was wrong somewhere.

"Where are you coming from with bloodstains on your cloth?" Abubakar asked Mahmud. He hadn't been comfortable as Mahmud and his people joined them in Botuwaraila community.

Abubakar knew that they were hostile to anybody who wasn't a Nomad, therefore, would disturb their peaceful coexistence in this community. He complained bitterly when the leader of the Nomads in Botuwaraila community accepted them; even though, they had an agreement to maintain a peaceful relationship with their host community. Their leader accepted them into the community because he believed that they would adhere to the agreement.

"We had a disagreement with somebody when we were grazing our cows and I have to defend myself so I fought him." Mahmud stammered.

"So you think I am a small child to believe that, don't you?" He looked disappointed and furious. "We have stayed in this community for more than 10 years and we didn't have any disagreement and you people just came here 3 months ago and you want to disturb our peaceful coexistence with the villagers."

"We didn't plan it to happen this way; things just happened so fast in his farm."

"I don't understand? Did you take your cows to graze in somebody's farm?"

"Yes, we did."

"Where are the others since you've been saying 'we'?"

"They are coming behind."

"What are they doing behind; what happened? I don't understand what you are saying."

"Our cows were grazing and the man came and claimed that it was his farmland and he started hitting the cattle and I lost control of myself and stabbed him." He stammered.

"You stabbed somebody!" He exclaimed. "What were you thinking? Is he still alive?" Abubakar was anxious to know.

"He died and unfortunately two women came around when we were still in the farm and began to wail; I believe one of them was his wife." Mahmud stammered.

"What happened?" Abubakar interrupted.

"Hasan and Gambo were afraid that their crying would attract the attention of others so they killed them."

"You killed three persons!" Abubakar grabbed him firmly on his cloth and the other Nomads in the community were attracted as they heard Abubakar laying curses on him as he kept shaking him.

The Nomads appealed to Abubakar to relax his hold on Mahmud which he reluctantly did. Mahmud stood by the side shivering as Abubakar narrated everything that Mahmud said when they inquired about the reason he assaulted Mahmud. They were disappointed and confused about the next action to follow. They knew that the people of Botuwaraila community were great warriors and would exterminate them if they should come against them in battle. They were not ready to fight them since they had a lot to lose; they had their cattle and children to protect.

They all began to lay curses on Mahmud, Gambo, and Hasan and aggressively attacked the families that migrated with them into the community as they supported what Mahmud did. They removed their daggers and attacked each other and some injured themselves as they fought. The Nomads that had been in the community were really disappointed as they felt that they might lose this land. It really had good pastures and the locals would never accept any explanation they would give them since the visitors had the same appearance as themselves and they would conclude that they were the same people as they didn't inform the locals before now that they had visitors among them.

"Stop fighting," Ibrahim shouted repeatedly as he ran into the scene from the forest. He saw the commotion their fighting caused from where he was grazing his cattle inside the bush and was aware of what happened before he came out as Isa had already intimated him about what Mahmud did. "Fighting ourselves wouldn't take us anywhere."

"Do you know what these people did?" Abubakar shouted.

"I know but the deed has been done already." Ibrahim didn't want to be emotional even though he was disappointed. "It is wrong for us to fight ourselves when we should be putting heads together to come out with what to do next."

"Then what do we do now? I warned you that these people can never change. We shouldn't have accepted them in the first place." Abubakar said pointing his dagger at them in disgust.

"You people gave them this chance, that's why you are afraid; are you supposed to be supporting them? We can fight." Hamzah one of the members of Mahmud's family said.

"If you claim to know how to fight, why have you been moving from one village to another running? The only thing you people are good at is to disrupt the peace and quietness that exist in communities." Abubakar said.

"Enough!" Ibrahim shouted. "We are going to leave this place for now and wait in any place we find refuge until the tension calms down. Then we will come and appeal to them. We can't lose this land." He shook his head and sighed deeply. "No, we won't lose this land." He paused for some seconds. "So everybody should quickly pack anything you can carry. We are leaving."

"Are we going to leave?" Abubakar fiercely pointed his dagger at them. "These miscreants should leave instead and not us following them," Abubakar said.

"What is wrong with this man? Why is he calling us names?" Sadiq reacted.

"We all have to leave because they don't know our differences and we didn't tell them that we have visitors so they must have presumed that we are the ones that did it."

"So this is how we lose this place." Garuba lamented.

"We haven't lost it yet; we will still come back," Ibrahim assured them.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Botuwaraila youths didn't accept to abide by Muhammad's instruction; they were really agitating for revenge and war. The fact of the horrible nature of Habibah's death drove them mad and they craved for the extermination of the Nomads. They convened briefly to deliberate on the next action to take. Most of them had made up their minds before coming for the meeting that even though there was no unanimous agreement to attack the Nomads, they would attack them individually. However, they unanimously agreed to attack the Nomads.

At the meeting, Sani was so aggrieved to listen to any contrary opinion; he almost attacked Murtala who appealed that they should heed to Muhammad's advice. But Idris was quick to hold him back.

"Does this boy reason at all? Look at what happened to Habibah and her unborn child not to talk of Gowon and Hajjah Maimuna and here you are telling us to listen to that old fool who has been receiving money from them."

"That is not what I meant..."

"Murtala" Idris interrupted. "If you don't hold that your dirty mouth from speaking, what Sani intends to do to you is even small as compared to what I will do to you. I will skin you and leave you under the sun for being so stupid"

"This means war and they have succeeded in giving us a clear and distinct message that they can be brutal and vile. But they don't know what violence means until we show them," Alhassan spoke with tears running down his cheeks. "Why would somebody be so inhuman as to kill a pregnant woman, tear her stomach and remove the unborn child and chop the child's head off? What do we call such people if not animals?"

"But they have been living with us in peace? Why this sudden change? Maybe..." Murtala was interrupted with a dirty slap by Abdul who was disgusted with his statement. He immediately began to bleed from his nostrils.

"You don't belong here!" Abdul shouted.

"Abdul, you shouldn't have done that!" Alhassan rebuked him.

"It serves him right; why won't he just keep quiet if he has nothing to say?" Idris said.

Murtala angrily stood up and left their premises; he was a strong man but wanted to consider reason rather than act with emotion but the youths were not ready to consider any other thing outside the desire to retaliate; they had concluded that it was a mischief intentionally executed by the Nomads to begin a war and conquer their land as they had heard stories of what Nomads had done in other communities.

"We will go there and kill anything that is alive and even their cattle," Alhassan said.

"What about their women and children?" Gaddo asked.

"Do you want to marry them?" Abdul interrupted. "Left for me, if I go there, I will kill anything that moves."

"Nothing will be spared; people with such tendencies shouldn't be given the chance to roam the surface of this earth because their children would definitely have that kind of bad blood in them," Sani said.

"We will do the world much good if we remove such pledge from it. We don't have time anymore. Go and get your weapons and prepare yourselves. We will run with our whole might to their place of dwelling and give them what they use their hands to invite; we will descend on them like angry lions and show them, undiluted terror; we will show them that we are warriors and not cowards; we are men of valour and not weaklings that fret in the face of battle. Everything there is cursed and condemned and as we go there, we will burn everything down such that even the weeds would be burnt down. Our fire will raise everything to the ground and the smoke will choke the pests that attempt to survive. Let's go and avenge the death of Gowon, Habibah and Hajjah Maimuna and not to forget the unborn baby." Alhassan and everybody left the meeting determined to exterminate the Nomads.

They all went to their various houses and brought out their weapons. They didn't wait but began to run to attack the Nomads in their settlement. The Botuwaraila youths were very skilled in the art of fighting and outnumbered the Nomads.

The Nomads were unfortunate that they didn't move before the youths who ran tirelessly came. They didn't wait to accommodate any explanation but attacked any Nomad they came in contact with. They were ready to kill anybody and erase their houses to the ground. The Nomads were running baselessly and those intercepted were slaughtered. The Nomadic men that wanted to fight back couldn't withstand the strength of the youths. Most of the visiting Nomads that claimed to be brave were killed. Those that ran to the bush were the only ones that survived. The youths attacked all the cows they could hold and slaughtered them.

The youths raised the Nomads' houses to the ground and killed all the Nomads that tried to defend themselves; the youths also had few casualties but the Nomads that tried to fight back were all killed. They didn't spare the women and children either as they felt that nothing should be kept alive after what they did to Habibah and her unborn child. They devoured on the Nomads like angry lions.

They pursued those that ran into the bush since they intended to exterminate all of them. They killed those they could catch and burnt them. And as the intended, nothing that belonged to the Nomads was spared. The youths came back and mourned the death of their own.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It was a huge loss for the politicians that invested in the cattle that were grazed in Botuwaraila community. The Nomads that survived were those that left the settlement to the bush to graze their cattle before the attack; they didn't come back to Botuwaraila village again when they heard about the attack from the survivors but went to other villages to seek refuge. However, they couldn't afford to totally leave Botuwaraila village which had a good pasture for grazing cattle. The bourgeois had heard several testimonies from their Nomads that their cattle fed better in Botuwaraila village.

The Nomads wished that they could go back to Botuwaraila village; they liked the climatic condition of Botuwaraila village. They could only pasture their cattle in the villages that bordered Botuwaraila but didn't dare to enter the village whose pastures they so much admired. They kept talking to the bourgeois to intervene but they demanded for more time which they believed would heal the pain caused as a result of the slaughter. They heard about the pathetic death of Gowon, Habibah and Hajjah Maimuna and were disappointed with the nomads whose family members caused it. They accepted the attack and death of their nomads as a consequence for Gowon, Habibah and Hajjah Maimuna's murder and acknowledged that it was wrong.

The bourgeois too had been having difficulty controlling the hostile Nomads whose activities had attracted losses than profit. The Nomads were always appealing for a second chance and they were always given the chance to prove otherwise but kept failing. Nevertheless, they were more favoured since Mustafa usually defended them. They were his people and some of them started the cattle rearing when they initially began and fought with him when they attacked Nikuru village.

They chose to give the people of Botuwaraila village some time to mourn their dead before they would approach and appeal to them to reconsider accepting their Nomads in their village. It was five years now and the Nomads kept persisting in their appeal to the bourgeois to intervene. The bourgeois had to convene a meeting to find the best way to approach the people of Botuwaraila village to allow their Nomads to enter the village and to promote peaceful coexistence among themselves. They concluded that they would appeal to the head of the village and assure him of peaceful coexistence, and they hoped to propel it with money. They invited the village head of Botuwaraila village to a meeting in the city.

"We understand that our people have caused your people so much pain and we are very sorry about it; we sincerely wish it didn't happen in the first place but it has happened." Hon. Yusuf appealed.

"Now we have to move on and still relate with one another; there is no use still conceiving grudges." Hon. Danladi added.

"We have severely punished the nomads that caused the disruption in your village and removed them from pasturing our cattle; we ourselves have suffered gravely because of their misbehaviour and callousness. We have lost dear ones, friends and family members alike and have also lost a good portion of our investment but nothing is more important than maintaining a good and peaceful relationship with your kind and hospitable people; a relationship which we have lost for a while now. We just want us to live together again." Hon. Yakubu said.

"My people have vowed not to permit grazing in my village; it hardens our soil and before the disagreement, they had complained that your cows were destroying their farm produce."

"We will ensure that our nomads stay away from your farmland this time when grazing. All the cattle need is just grasses which nature has bountifully given to your community; the cows would eat the ones on the paths and won't come to the farmlands." Yakubu promised.

"I don't mean to disrespect you honorable, but my people won't accept; we have already established a law prohibiting your nomads to come into my village. We have declared that anytime they see your people within our land, they should attack and drive them off; I meant no offense please."

"Come to think of it, you are the village head and every decision should be made by you; you know what your people want; left for them, they don't know what they really want. As a leader, you tell them what they should want and the direction they should go. They shouldn't be given the power or made to believe that they have the power to influence decisions; what do they know? You are their leader because you know more than them and should tell them what to do and what is good for them. Trading will enable your village to develop faster. After all, we will make sure that the nomads we will send won't cause your people, any harm." Yusuf said.

"You should also remember that you have been living with our people for more than ten years and have no problem only for the sudden attack which we are very sorry for and I can tell you that those nomads are not from us; the attack was caused by some nomads that visited them that were violent, cruel and wicked. They were chased from other communities and our nomads felt they were changed people which eventually they weren't. They were trying to be accommodating not knowing that they were evil people and thieves. It wasn't our people that had been living with you that caused the harm but the visitors. If you had time to see their faces you will recall that you were not familiar with their faces. So if you allow our people, you will live in peace while we ensure that the visitors don't come again." Hon. Danladi said.

"We have a lot in common, our people have come to learn your language, they have accepted your tradition, inter-married with your people and they ate your food and enjoyed it even more than the ones they had been eating. We were one before this unfortunate incident happened and broke us apart. Why would they deliberately harm your people whom they have called brother? You will accept with me that the attack wasn't from us. We have achieved a lot from our union already. We will achieve plenty from our union again; together we will develop ourselves. You can see that your people are farmers and our people raise cattle." Hon. Yakubu said.

"I don't think I can convince my people to accept your people in our land again; they have decided and as a leader representing them I should do what they want. I am sorry to disappoint you; I wish there is something I can do to change that but my hands are tied."

"Name anything you want and we will give it to you; all we want in return is a grazing land." Hon. Yusuf said.

"With all due respect, I don't want anything from you."

"You can't say you don't want anything from us; everybody wants something. You can't say you have everything; we can give you lots of money, yours is just to call a figure and it's yours. This is your chance to become very rich and there is nothing really at stake and definitely no strings attached, you are not selling anything and we are not buying anything from you, we just need the natural grasses that Allah has given you in abundance to graze our cattle and we assure you that our nomads will not be hostile." Hon. Danladi said.

"As much as I don't want to disappoint you, my people have made up their minds and there is nothing I can do about it."

"Okay, we don't necessarily have to come and live among your people again; our nomads can stay in the neighbouring villages and take our cows to come and only graze in your land after which they will return back. So we only need an assurance from you that your people won't attack our cattle. And we will pay any amount if you would give us that assurance." Hon. Yakubu said.

"You are not making this any easier for me; I sincerely wish that I could help but..."

"Okay, maybe you go back to your people and discuss it; and we assure you that if you can buy some of your people over, we will give you any money you want. We can begin like this." Hon. Yusuf pointed at a sack containing money. "This is yours and there is more if you can convince your people for us."

"We really need you to help us in this." Hon. Danladi appealed.

"I will go and see what I can do about it."

"We are counting on you not to fail us." Hon. Yusuf smiled.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Muhammad was confused and disturbed as it was difficult for him to suitably handle the request of the bourgeois; he knew the extent his people detested the nomads after the killing of Gowon and his wife as well as Hajjah Maimuna. The people of Botuwaraila didn't allow the mention of the names of the nomads in their meetings as they felt it was offensive and repulsive. They tried as much as possible to deny that they experienced such awful event in their village and they ensured that they didn't discuss it anymore among themselves hoping that someday it would be forgotten and would be erased as being part of their history. They forbade the people from discussing it and worst still telling their children about it.

Muhammad knew this and didn't know how to bring the issue up in their meetings, worst of all, appeal to them to allow them to come and stay with them in their village. He was also afraid that the people on hearing such from his mouth might become hostile towards him. And he had already collected money from them which had been making it tough for him to decide on what to do.

"I overheard somebody saying that those nomads that killed Gowon were not the ones we lived with." Muhammad succeeded in bringing the matter up in their annual meeting.

"Who would make that kind of claim; it's not possible," Hussein said.

"Even though they were not the ones as you are claiming, the primary thing there is that those that killed Gowon, his wife, and Maimuna, Allah rest their souls, were nomads and probably must have visited them and had gotten their consent to have had access to our land," Hadi said.

"But we were living with their Abubakar, Ibrahim, Garuba, name them, in peace and harmony; they bought our farm produce from us, we bought beef from them at a cheap rate, they came to our festival and we celebrated together before suddenly the attack happened," Muhammad said.

"But when you say we were living in peace and harmony before the attack happened, don't forget that we were having challenges with them too." Nasir said.

"What challenge was that?"

"Don't tell me that you don't remember that our people were complaining that their cattle were eating their farm produce before the attack happened," Hussein said.

"But they paid for everything they damaged, didn't they?"

"But you should ask yourself why they allowed their cattle to enter our farm in the first place. They wanted their cattle to feed on our farm produce." Nasir said.

"If the people that attacked were visitors just as you said, they must have been told by those that we were living with that they could eat our farm produce which was why they entered our farm." Hadi said.

"Not only that, they must have contracted them and were mobilizing themselves to attack us and Allah gave us a sign through Gowon's attack; else why would a hostile visitor come and visit them as you claimed and they didn't inform us about it; is it their land?" Hussein said.

"From the way they brutally murdered Habibah, I don't call those people human beings anymore." Hadi said.

"Why do you choose to discuss about those miscreants today; I thought we agreed that we shouldn't discuss anything about them again as much as call their names?" Nasir said.

"I had a meeting with their people and they appealed that we should give them a chance to graze their cows in our land while their people stay in the neighbouring communities."

"And what did you tell them?"

"You should have known what he said to them from what he has been saying; else why would he all of a sudden begin to infer that those nomads that killed Gowon were not the nomads we have been living with?" Hadi insinuated.

"You have agreed, haven't you?" Nasir asked.

"No, I haven't; I just told them that I would get back to them after discussing it with you."

"Tell them that we absolutely disagree," Hussein said. "We don't want them anywhere around our community again."

"They gave me a sack filled with money and promised to give us more if we allow their cows to graze in our land and I mean only grazing."

"Muhammad, I am disappointed in you; are you telling me that you are considering it?" Hadi asked as he shook his head.

"If they want, they can attempt to give us all the money in the world but we are not going to accept them in this community." Nasir said.

"But they promised that they wouldn't tolerate those visitors that caused us the trouble again."

"Why did they tolerate them in the first place; we can't trust them again. Don't you get it? These people can't be any different. If we can't put an end to them coming now, we can't do that again and someday they will want to contest this land with our children. Humans can never be satisfied." Nasir said.

"But why are they willing to give that kind of money just for their cattle to graze; is it not just grass?" Samaila asked.

"Since it has come to money, I know you will speak." Nasir mocked Samaila.

"Perhaps they don't have a land such as this in their place."

"Those people think they have seen foolish people; they want to indirectly buy our land from us and give their people the power to misbehave. We are not going to allow them to come to this community again." Nasir said.

"Please enough of this discussion; tell them that we don't want them in our land anymore," Hadi said.

They continued the meeting but ceased to discuss about the issue concerning the nomads coming to settle in their community. Muhammad didn't want to bring the issue up again as he saw that they wouldn't accept it no matter how hard he might try to push it. They finished the meeting and retired to their houses.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Samaila came to Muhammad's house very early in the morning. He didn't knock on his door as he didn't want to wake him up from sleep. Nevertheless, he knew that he would come out soon as he would have to go to the farm. Every villager usually woke up early to go to the farm. Muhammad came out after 10 minutes as expected and was surprised to see somebody outside his house.

"Good morning." Samaila greeted as he walked towards Muhammad's door where Muhammad stood.

"Good morning; who is that?" Muhammad seemed frightened as he didn't see Samaila's face very well as it was still slightly dark.

"It's me Samaila." Samaila laughed. "Is this how you fear?" He mocked Muhammad.

"Samaila, you almost scared me; what brought you to my house the early hour of the morning?"

"I wanted to speak to you yesterday but it was too late when we finished the meeting," Samaila said as he stopped walking and stood in front of Muhammad.

"Yes, the meeting was unusually long yesterday and it was really late when we finished; hope there is no problem?"

"None really" Samaila smiled and cleared his throat. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "What do you intend to tell the nomads when you meet them?"

"What is there to tell them? You can see that you people out-rightly refused; so I will return the money."

"When will you return the money then?"

"I am thinking of returning it today; I don't want the money to be with me any longer else they will presume that I have accepted their demands."

"Left for me, we can keep the money and give them some part of our land so that they can graze their cows."

"Were you not in the meeting? Hope you heard what they unanimously agreed upon of which I remember very well that you were part of them."

"Yes I know, but we are the ones that know the actual boundaries of our land with the neighbouring villages and don't forget, we are the eldest people in this village. We can give them the bordering lands and tell them to graze their cattle there. After all, they have promised that they will live with us in peace."

"Our people won't accept that; you can see how they reacted in the meeting and not to forget so soon, hope you can see the agitation of our youths. I am afraid of those boys now. They have become very wild and hostile"

"Don't worry; they will come to accept them; they can even use my land that is at the border for their grazing. This money will help us very much in our community."

"Samaila, your love for money is becoming an obsession. I don't think I can risk that; I am going to return the money."

Muhammad returned the money to the bourgeois; he dropped the money despite their persuasion as they appealed that he should keep the money.

Samaila went to the city and met Honourable Yusuf who was amazed to hear him demand for the money. However, he was desperate therefore didn't have to ask much questions and didn't wish to understand any ambiguity; he was just satisfied that they would finally be allowed into the village. Samaila promised that he would convince his people to collect the money and their nomads would graze peacefully in Botuwaraila community. Honourable Yusuf gave him more money when he promised that he would sell large hectares of land to them so that they could have a permanent settlement in Botuwaraila community.

The nomads didn't have the tradition to erect standard buildings anywhere they go since they were temporal occupants; their houses were more of sticks and grasses, and anytime they wanted to leave a settlement, they had no challenge in destroying their tents. But with the promises made by Samaila, they hoped that their nomads would have equal rights and privileges in the community and erect solid buildings.

The bourgeois told the nomads that the people of Botuwaraila village had accepted that they should graze their cattle in their land. The nomads were excited; they had always wished to go back to Botuwaraila community and were quick to fantasize the opportunities their cattle would have to graze in the green pastures there. They also told other nomads who hadn't been to Botuwaraila village about the land's rich pastures and they became anxious to go to Botuwaraila community.

Samaila felt he needed time to convince his people. He intended to convince them individually before discussing it with them in their general meeting, therefore, winning their individual support. He hoped that after winning their hearts, they would control their children individually which would eventually regulate the entire community to accommodate the nomads.

The nomads were anxious to take their cattle to Botuwaraila community to graze. The bourgeois couldn't contain their yearnings any longer therefore presumed that Samaila's silence implied that the people of Botuwaraila village agreed to grant their nomads the privilege to graze their cattle in their village. They permitted the nomads to take their cattle to Botuwaraila community to graze but instructed them to graze the cattle around the outskirt of the community. They wanted to observe the reaction of the villagers and be certain that they had finally given their consent. They wouldn't want to lose any cattle again.

The nomads took their cattle to Botuwaraila community to graze; they grazed their cattle around the borders as such the people of Botuwaraila weren't aware that the nomads had come back. They kept increasing their flock and began to gradually penetrate into the community as they didn't encounter any resistance. They directed their cattle to feed on the pastures on the paths and they didn't come to the community where the locals would see them.

However, there were some Nomads who wanted to take their cattle inside the community to graze as they saw the fresh pastures. They took them a bit further inside as they thought their differences had been resolved.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Samaila always postponed his intention to individually approach the villagers to persuade them to allow the nomads to graze in the community. He was rather spending the money given to him. The villagers were astonished that he was spending so much money. His wives were surprised as he gave them a huge sum of money to buy foodstuffs. They were amazed that he could comfortably tell them to buy expensive food ingredients and prepare food that he couldn't afford before now. He married his third wife and spent a lot of money at the ceremony. The villagers were amazed at the amount of money he spent when they knew very well that it wasn't a period of harvest and farm produce wasn't sold this time of the year as it was still raining.

He encouraged the villagers to expand their farms and appeared as someone readily available to give them loans to aid them in their farming. He claimed he had good intentions for the villagers, and as Allah had blessed him with abundance, he would extend the same favour to the villagers. He was on a mission to develop the village and to render assistance to everybody. Therefore, he was benevolence and gave aids to people without reservation. The youths in the village preferred working for him anytime he called for assistance as he was ready to pay and he would have his wives prepare food that was enough to satisfy them.

He sponsored many projects in the village and donated extensively to help the completion of all the pending projects that every villager had been donating for decades to complete. He built a big barn in his house and suggested that the community should have a general barn where those that couldn't afford to build a barn of their own would store their farm produce until they would take them to the market. The villagers admired the idea and acknowledge it to be wonderful but complained that they would rather use such money to solve their immediate needs than to embark on a long-term project. However, he chose to single-handedly embark on the project, therefore, sponsored the building of a very big barn in the village. It didn't take them more than two weeks to complete the big barn since he was financially buoyant. The youths struggled to work for him as he kept making provisions for their feeding until they finished the project. He employed all the youths that showed interest in the building. He ensured that through his projects and activities, there was money available for the youths. Some even chose to abandon their farms and preferred to work for Samaila as he paid them very well and promptly. They even wished that the project didn't finish as most of them had never been satisfactorily fed like that since they were born.

Due to the numerous celebrations in the community, most of them stopped going to their farms and the hunters stopped going to hunt but joined Samaila in his mission to develop the community. He saw that the shops in the market had woods that were almost rotten and some of the shops had fallen off as they were built with softwoods. He decided to rebuild them with hardwoods and chose to bear the cost of cutting and transporting the woods from the forest to the market. He ensured that the foundations of the shops were deep and solid and the woods were fittingly mounted inside the holes before they started the construction to the finished stage. He supervised them closely to ensure that quality materials were used. The youths made good money and those that had been defaulting in their group meetings due to lack of money to pay for various contributions became faithful in paying them. None of them could give the excuse of a poor harvest to escape monetary contributions in their peer group meetings anymore.

He also saw that the village hall where the villagers convene for meetings had fallen apart. Anytime it rained, water usually dripped through the leaky roof and flooded the hall which had always caused low turnout of villagers for meetings during rainy seasons. The village hall was one of the projects that took the villagers a long time to complete. All the villagers contributed annually when they were building the hall and it took them more than five years to complete it. The money contributed individually to enhance the project wasn't really tangible and the commitment to the work was poor as the youths were compelled to offer free services. Therefore, were reluctant to come out when called upon. The building after the completion was considered to be the most beautiful building on earth by those that had never left the village and most of the villagers died having that mindset. Samaila ceased to see the beauty when he saw that the building could be better and more modern. He wanted the hall to be bigger and wide enough to contain more people. He also decided to build another hall where the youths would convene for meetings. The youths had been convening under trees for their meetings and had always wished they had a building of their own where they would be meeting. Samaila used his initiative to know their plight and chose to include their building with the community hall project.

He decided to embark on the two projects together. He employed the service of a renowned local architect from Gruduru community where the Emir's palace was located. Gruduru community was the most developed community around the region and they had good architects who designed their buildings. Alhaji Lami was the most reputable architect in the region and Samaila chose to contract him despite the amount it would cost him. Alhaji Lami didn't bring any labourer with him as Samaila insisted that the youths in the village would work with him and through that become more skillful in the act of building. It wasn't Alhaji Lami's way of doing things but Samaila gave him an offer he couldn't turn down. So he accepted to work with the youths. The youths were indeed grateful for the opportunity to work and learn under Alhaji Lami whose achievements they heard about when they were children. He was the one who designed the Emir's new palace.

The work didn't take up to twelve months to be finally completed and Samaila who desired a standard work ensured that the construction was satisfactorily done with quality materials that it could stand any building in the region. While they were building the two halls, Samaila realized that the community mosque had been left out and he chose to include the mosque in the project. After Alhaji Lami finished all the projects, he confessed that he had never dedicated such amount of time and creativity in any construction after he finished supervising the palace of the Emir.

Everybody in the community was happy with the development and adored Samaila. The villagers who were inquisitive asked Samaila how he suddenly made so much money but Samaila was indeed tactical in dodging the question. He would bring up another discussion anytime he was asked. He didn't see the use to tell the villagers where he got the money from and the reason for the money. He wouldn't want to tarnish his image and spoil the good relationship he had succeeded to build with his people. He realized that if he should tell the people that the Nomads gave him the money to persuade them to allow their cattle graze in their land, they would despise him and the good name he had earned would be dragged to the mud. He, therefore, chose to be silent.

Samaila gave all his friends loans and persuaded those who initially refused to collect the loan to accept it in order to develop their farms. The youths in the village collectively farmed for him, therefore, he had a largely cultivated farmland and made lots of money from the sales of his farm produce. He encouraged and promoted trade and commerce in the village, and advised the villagers to allow their wives to go to bigger markets in other communities and bring new commodities to their market.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

It was 12:00 noon, Sani had finished farming for today and was coming out of his farm when he heard someone calling his name; he turned and saw Abdul running towards him. He was surprised to see Abdul running as if he was being chased by a wild animal. He had to look very well beyond him to be sure whether to stand and wait for him or to begin to run as well. Abdul reached where he was standing and stopped to catch his breath. He bent down and was looking at the floor as he was breathing very fast. Sani was relieved to see that there was nothing chasing him. He mocked and laughed at Abdul as he struggled to regain himself.

"Where did you run from that you are breathing as if you ran from Katereu village?"

"Nomads!" He exclaimed while still panting.

"What?" Sani wanted to audibly hear what Abdul said to really confirm that he heard nomads.

"I saw nomads grazing their cattle in the bush." He said placing his right hand on Sani's hand.

"Are you sure you saw nomads?" Sani asked.

"What kind of question is that; if I didn't see nomads, will I say I saw them?"

"These people have come back again; let's go and mobilise fast. We will give them a surprise attack that they will hardly escape."

They ran to the village and distributed themselves so that they would contact others quickly; some of the youths hadn't come back from the farm but they met a good number of them who were in their houses. Immediately they heard the news, they didn't hesitate but followed Abdul with the weapons within their reach. They ran in the direction Abdul said he saw the nomads with Abdul leading them.

The nomads while grazing their flock heard the sound of their movement and saw the grasses moving as the villagers approached them. They stood still to observe what was happening and realised as the youths came out of the bush that they had weapons on them and intended to attack them. The nomads were scared and began to shout as they raised their hands up to indicate that they had no weapons on them and they came in peace. The nomads were outnumbered and were confused as they didn't expect that the community still had grudges against them. They perceived the rage in the youths and knew that their end was near. Their cows were sensitive and had already scattered before the youths attacked. They couldn't run after their cows to control them as they saw the youths coming towards them with weapons; they would have to beg for their lives which they knew would be cut down if they didn't use the appropriate approach to appeal.

The nomads were petrified and wished to say something but words weren't coming out as fear overwhelmed them; before they could comport themselves and come out with something meaningful, their heads were already flying in the air dismembered from their bodies. The nomads who stood in front saw what happened and tried to control their cows. They tried to run but the cows delayed them. The cattle weren't cognitive to understand what was necessary and required of them to do at the moment even though they could perceive fear. The nomads didn't want to leave them scattered. They tried to hit the cows hard attempting to push them to increase their pace but they were rather scattering. Before the nomads realised that they had to leave the cattle, if they would have to survive the attack, the youths were already on them and the youths didn't waste time but descended on them. Some of the nomads that saw their fallen brothers died before them cried as they saw their heads spinning in the air and blood gushing out like running tap from their necks as their bodies stood without their head before falling to the ground.

Only one nomad successfully escaped and he could escape because he wasn't seen. He initially went inside the bush to defecate and had to hide when he saw the youths attacked his brothers. He would have loved to assist his fallen brothers but he saw that they were outnumbered. He had no weapon to confront them except his dagger. He hid behind a gigantic tree inside the bush until the youths retired victorious to their village shouting victory songs. When he came out, he wept bitterly as he saw his brothers' lifeless body on the floor with their heads dismembered. The cows that survived the stabbing were still around in the bush. The youths didn't care about the cows as they stabbed the cows they came in contact with and left them running with their wounds. Most of the cattle stabbed didn't run far but fell and died. Botuwaraila youths were skillful in fighting as they were swift in using the machetes. Stabbing the cattle around their necks and swiftly removing the dagger wasn't a difficult thing for them to do.

Kamil walked slowly and tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked at the lifeless body of his brothers. His heart was broken. He was so disheartened that he didn't care about the cows that were scattered in the bush. However, some of the cows followed him as he walked out of the village mourning. He felt guilty that he survived; he felt he should have died with his brothers. Kamil conceived the world to be void without them. He saw the way Habib, Faruq, Bashir, Aminu and Jamal's heads were chopped off and felt so much discomfort and pain as guilt rived his heart. He thought he would have prevented Bashir's death if he had come out and stroked the person that killed him. He felt that he died with them there.

CHAPTER TWENTY

It so happened that the men in the village were gathered in the village hall before some of the youths left to attack the nomads in the bush. They were perplexed when they came out of the meeting and noticed the unprecedented silence in the village. They discovered that most of the youths were not sitting where they usually sat and discussed during this hour of the day after they had come back from the farm. The youths that were at the farm when the others left to attack the nomads, came home and were perplexed as they noticed the unprecedented quietness in the community at this time of the day.

Those that went to attack the nomads came back to the village singing. Their weapons were stained with blood as they raised them above the heads gyrating. Everybody in the community came out as they heard their song. They saw that their clothes and machetes were stained with blood. They needed not to be told that they went and fought for them to know; the question was: who did they go to fight? Since they weren't aware that the nomads had been grazing their cattle in their village and they didn't remember having any dispute with the neighbouring villages.

Everybody was surprised to hear that the nomads had the nerves to come back to their land and graze after what they did seven years ago. Nevertheless, the elders admonished them for being too rash and hostile and insisted that they acted wrongly to kill them. They didn't seem to be happy with their action as they knew that the consequences could be grave. They insisted that the youths should have driven them out of the community than to attack them.

Samaila was very disappointed and became confused as the harm was already done. He knew that he had failed the nomads and had failed his people as well. He wished that he didn't collect the money in the first place and also felt that he should have told them about the money after he had finished all the projects that benefitted everybody in the community.

He was quiet all through the time the elders went into the bush to see the extent of the damage done by the youths. When they went there, they were so disappointed and irritated to see the brutal killing of the nomads and their cows that some women that followed them vomited. They saw the dead cattle and the remains of the nomads lying on the floor as their corpses were already swollen. Parts of their corpses were littered on the ground and blood stains were on the grasses and flowing on the floor where vultures were feeding on them. It was an awful sight and flies kept perching on the corpses. The vultures that fed on the corpses kept screaming. The stench of blood was everywhere and some of them couldn't withstand the horrible sight that they left the place immediately.

The elders weren't actually sad that their children attacked the nomads. They were only disappointed about what their children had turned to. They had become barbaric as they had been ruled by rage and anger after the death of Gowon and Habibah whose union they admired as a standard for a remarkable union, and the death of Hajia Maimuna who was very kind and regarded as a mentor.

Samaila continued to feel guilty and couldn't find any suitable reason to compensate himself. He couldn't confide in anybody as he felt that nobody would understand. He sat for a long time trying to look for something to rely on as a reason to desire to live but wasn't finding any. He felt that the villagers would be disappointed to learn that he collected money from the nomads to enable their cattle to graze in their community. They would conclude that he connived with the nomads to collect their land and would insinuate that the projects he carried out were sponsored by the Nomads which would be for their interest when they would probably take over the land. And the nomads, on the other hand, would be hunting him for deceiving them. The guilt was overwhelming and the reasons were coming so fast that he couldn't think about anything contrary.

He took a deep breath as he stood up and went inside, he looked around the four walls of his room as he entered inside and swallowed saliva. As he was going to the backyard, he saw the faces of his wives and children as they were seated at the corridor cracking jokes and laughing. His eyes were crimson red and his body very hot as if he had a high fever. He looked at the wife he married last year and saw her protruded stomach. He felt so sorry for the unborn child who might probably not see him when he would be born. He went to the small house where his goats were kept and took one of the ropes on the floor that he usually used to tie goats to the trees when they were taken out to graze. He tried to smile as he caught the gaze of some of his children when he passed them. His heart was touched by the affection from his children but he couldn't control the guilt and sorrow that consumed him.

He went out of the house with the rope in his hand. As he was leaving the village, Nasir saw him and beckoned on him to come and join them to play local dice game but he rolled his hand in the air in a gesture telling him that he would come back. He tried to express some sense of humour as he responded to the people that greeted him when he was leaving the village. If only they had known what he conceived in his heart, they would have known that the great sense of humour he expressed was a facade as he was actually experiencing the peak of grievance. He sat down under a tree and cried as he thought about his family, people, friends, and the community. As he pondered about them, he wanted to reconsider his resolution but the compelling guilt wouldn't want to spare him. He looked up, saw the heavens and shook his head. He took a deep breath. "So this is my end." He climbed the tree, tied the rope to one of the firm branches and tied the other end to his neck. He jumped from the tree and the rope fastened to his neck and prevented him from falling on the ground. His neck broke in the process as he was forcefully interrupted by the rope in the air. His legs kept dangling as he struggled with the excruciating pains he felt around his neck. Tears kept dropping from his eyes and the inanimate rope that didn't feel or sympathize became tighter as he struggled. Samaila died!

Amina, Latifah, and Salimah were perplexed after Nasir and Muhammad came to Samaila's house to ask after him. Amina was surprised that Samaila wasn't with them and Nasir was amazed that he hadn't come back from where he said he was going to. Latifah told them that Samaila left the house with a rope and since then hadn't come back. Nasir affirmed that he saw him with a rope and he made a sign which indicated that he would come back soon when they greeted in the evening but he didn't come back.

They concluded that he probably visited one of the neighbouring villages. Although, they couldn't figure out what might have prompted him to visit any of the villages. None of the villages invited them for any ceremony or festival which they were celebrating. They told Amina Samaila's eldest wife that they would be coming back to check on him again. Nasir appealed that if he should come back, he should be told that they came around. Therefore, he had the obligation to come and see them.

Samaila didn't come home until it was almost 9:00 pm. His wives were very worried and anxiously sat outside waiting for him. Nasir visited his house for the second time and was already disappointed while he was coming that Samaila would come home and refused to come to his house when he must have been told that they came to check on him while he was away. He concluded that Samaila always had such despicable temperament of not showing concern for people around him and decided that he would admonish him about it, only to be told when he entered Samaila's house that he hadn't come back. He didn't have to react in their presence when Salimah told him that Samaila wasn't back yet as he noticed the anxiety in his wives and children.

Nasir assured them that he would come back even though he couldn't really give any convincing reason why Samaila should be away at such odd hour when others were with their families. They were frightened because he had never behaved like this before except he traveled which he usually notified them before he left.

Amina who had lived with him longer than the other wives wasn't comfortable. She experienced a strong irresistible feeling that something was wrong somewhere. She kept having a strange feeling that something bad had happened to Samaila. All the wives and children sat outside staring at the road and hoped to see their man walking home. At the moment, they couldn't conceive anything that could compare to the happiness they would feel if they should see him coming home. The anxiety had conditioned their minds and caused them so much fear therefore doubting the hope that he could be fine wherever he was. The only thing that would be meaningful and a source of joy for them would be the sight of Samaila. The feelings that something bad had happened to him wouldn't just go away and they couldn't deny it even though they desired to. They were all quiet hoping and staring at the road. They paid attention to every little sound and they could even hear the sound of insects crawling. The children would run to the road to check as they hoped that it was Samaila coming anytime they heard anybody's footstep but would be disappointed and sad when the person wasn't Samaila.

Amina later told them to go inside and sleep. She told them that he probably went to one of the neighbouring villages and it became late so he had to stay there. She assured them that he would come back tomorrow. She knew it was her duty as the eldest wife to reassure and encourage them. In order to convince them, she told them that Samaila told her that he would be going to Waburi community within this week but didn't say the particular day. Therefore, she believed that he must have gone there which should be the reason he didn't come back today. The children were relieved and happy as they heard that. It was as if a heavy burden was lifted from them and they gained life again. They needed hopeful news that they could rely on. Salimah the youngest wife also believed Amina and was relieved but Latifah was still skeptical.

They all retired to sleep but Amina couldn't sleep as her heart kept beating fast. She kept praying that Allah should keep Samaila from the eyes of evil and bring him home safely.

Murtala ran home from the farm screaming. At the time he came to the community, some were still sleeping since it was still the early hour of the morning. He left the house very early to go to his farm and while on his way as he diverted into the bush just a few distances away from his farm, he saw Samaila's lifeless body hanging on a tree. He had to go closer to be sure about what he saw and was consumed with fear as he confirmed the corpse hanging to be Samaila.

Most people came out of their houses frightened and confused as they tried to inquire what happened. Some rushed out of their houses with weapons as they presumed that Murtala had sighted the nomads who might want to invade their village to take revenge for the death of their brothers. Murtala told them that he saw Samaila's corpse hanging on a tree. They were petrified at the sad news. Although some refused to believe as they rushed to Samaila's house to ask if he was at home but began to wail when they were told that he didn't come home yesterday. Samaila's wives and children immediately knew that something bad had happened to their husband and father. They didn't have to ask but started to cry.

Immediately Nasir, Muhammad, and Hussein heard the sad news, they became anxious and asked Murtala to describe the specific place where he saw Samaila's corpse but Murtala chose to take them to the tree where he saw his corpse hanging in the bush.

Samaila's died without revealing the deal he had with the bourgeois to any villager. Everybody in the village mourned dearly for the death of Samaila whom they saw as their icon. There would be nobody that would be remembered in Botuwaraila village as Samaila who did remarkable projects that none could match.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

The bourgeois felt that they had been double-crossed by Samaila and were convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the villagers participated in Samaila's conspiracy. After all, they heard gossips from several persons who said that the people of Botuwaraila village had been giving testimonies about the numerous building projects in their community that was sponsored by Samaila. It was difficult for them to reconcile the killing of their nomads since their nomads had not disturbed their village in any way. The death of their nomads and cattle made them furious and unforgiving and they desired vengeance. They concluded that they would invade Botuwaraila community and probably force the people out of the community or subjugate them.

Honourable Yusuf being raged and impatient would have loved to attack them sooner than later. He instructed Mustafa to mobilise militias and gave him money to buy sophisticated weapons which they would use to attack the people of Botuwaraila community. They were aware that the people of Botuwaraila community were warriors. Therefore, they would have to attack them unannounced if they must conquer them.

Mustafa, however, appealed that if they would want to succeed in defeating the people of Botuwaraila community, they would have to wait for a long duration of time so that they would forget that they had an impending attack from them as a consequence for killing their people and cattle. Honourable Yusuf and the others saw prospect in Mustafa's suggestion and decided to allow him to act as he deemed fit. They praised him to be a master craft in the art of invading villages judging from what he did in Nikuru village. All the bourgeois wanted was to gain total control of the community, a possibility which in their minds, they had already strategized beneficial investment in and explored the chances of using their lands for agricultural production.

"I will have to go into agriculture; there is so much money to be made there?" Hon. Yakubu said when they sat together in one of their meetings.

"I can see somebody already building a castle in the air." Hon. Yusuf mocked Hon. Yakubu and they laughed.

"Yakubu, you keep saying things that will never materialise; I remember you told us eight years ago that you will go into textile, this is eight years now and I am sure you haven't seen that the time is ripe yet, have you?" Hon. Danladi asked.

"There is so much competition there and the cost of importing it is cheaper than production..."

"Is there anything that doesn't have competition? Even agriculture has more competition because even a peasant farmer sells his farm produce."

"I will farm in large scale using machines and employed labour; there is money in agriculture."

"You never cease to amaze me; is it your village that has only rocks and sand that you will farm in large scale? Maybe you are prepared to channel the Atlantic Ocean to your community, who knows." Hon. Yusuf said.

"Far from that; I am thinking that if we claim the land of Botuwaraila, I will use some portion of that land to start sugarcane farming and probably invest in sugar production."

"A land that we have not yet occupied, nor known if we will occupy, you have already made plans for it; that is funny." Hon. Danladi laughed.

"As for occupying that land, we are going to occupy it; we will use all in our power to collect that land. Maybe I will consider going into agriculture too but I would prefer onions; they produce onions in large quantity in Botuwaraila."

"Yusuf, now you are talking; that is why we need to get the land." Hon. Yakubu laughed.

"Mustafa will never fail; at least if all the necessary weapons are available, he will know the right people to select that are skilled in fighting this kind of battle." Hon. Yusuf said.

"But this Mustafa timing, is it not taking too long?" Hon. Yakubu asked.

"If we really want to successfully take over Botuwaraila community, we have to wait; we need them to forget and begin to enjoy their lives in peace and quietness, then we will strike hard when they will never expect." Hon. Yusuf said.

Mustafa selectively hired some militias who were renowned for killing mercilessly without regard for status, age or colour. He also intended to use some of the hostile nomads who had a reputation for terrorizing their host communities.

As Mustafa satisfactorily collected all the weapons from the suppliers, he decided after an exhaustive meeting with the bourgeois as well as the militia that they would attack the community at the early hours of the morning when they would probably be coming out unguarded and going out for their farm activities. And to avoid suspicion of any sort, they would have to enter the community when there would be nobody watching which might thwart their plan.

He was convinced that the seven years given to them must have made the people of Botuwaraila community forgot that they had enemies who they brutally murdered, and these enemies would likely reinforce to revenge their people's death; they must have felt that if they had wanted to retaliate, they would have done it a few days after they attacked. Mustafa wanted them to begin to live their lives preoccupied with activities and distractions. Indeed, the people of Botuwaraila were living their lives as expected; they were happy as their farm produce yielded very well and people from different villages came to their market to buy from them. They usually remembered Samaila for the wonderful barn he built for the community anytime they went to store their grains, sold in the market, when they entered the hall for meeting and went to the mosque for worship. They always acknowledged that Samaila helped them to advance greatly in their farming from the money he gave them to boost their farming; a benefit which they were enjoying even when he was long dead. They couldn't forget the impact of Samaila in their community. Although, they had recovered from the sadness caused by his death which was eight years now, but they were forever grateful for the legacy he left behind. They had also experienced the death of Muhammad and some other members of the community and had moved on as they acknowledged Allah for his supremacy and will over humanity. They were successful as they progressed in their businesses without threat and conflict and they didn't expect any either. They happily celebrated their festivals, children naming ceremonies and marriages. Life was fun and good in Botuwaraila village.

Mustafa was satisfied that the moment he had been hoping for had finally come. He was convinced that the people of Botuwaraila were fully consumed with their daily activities and by that had become vulnerable. Despite the agitation by the militias that they should attack the community in the afternoon, he decided that they would enter the community in the midnight when hopefully there would be nobody around in the bush to see them as they would enter.

They passed through Waburi village, a neighbouring village to Botuwaraila village, when it was a market day in Waburi village and people were distracted with market activities therefore they were too busy to suspect them and there were few people in the bush to see them as they passed. They passed through Waburi village when the sun had already set. They were very careful to ensure that their presence didn't attract any attention. Even Abubakar who had some kind of obsession for hunting saw an antelope in the bush while they were passing Waburi and couldn't shoot it despite the compelling desire to shoot it. Mustafa having experienced what went wrong in Nikuru village was more observant and told them that any misbehaviour would cause him to shoot the person to death. He didn't allow them to take Indian-hemp as well despite their desire to take it.

They hid in the bush in Botuwaraila village and stayed there until the early hours of the morning. They came out and entered the village where they positioned themselves at the doorsteps of some of the houses. They would knock and when the occupant of the house opened the door, they would slaughter the person with their machetes and attack everybody within the household. They started using guns when some of the victims began to shout and scream which notified the houses they hadn't gone to. They began to shoot at the locals as they were running for their safety. They were burning houses, killing children, women, and men. It was a bloodbath for the people of Botuwaraila village. Those that survived were those that lived at the extreme end of the village. The militias couldn't position themselves there before the victims screamed which when they heard their cries and the sound of their guns, knew it was an attack and didn't wait to act but ran into the bush for the safety of their lives. The people of Botuwaraila lost their village and hoped to reinforce in order to claim their village back.

