Betrayal in Death

Siva Okojie was afraid to step outside of Tajudeen hotel when the discussion ended. He watched carefully that there was no one on the street when he got out of the

buiding. As he waited for a taxi in the evening twilight, he felt as if somebody was following him. He looked around himself every now and then until he succeeded in flagging down one approaching scrap of a car. Get me out of here, he told himself.

‘Oga, where?’ the driver asked.

Siva had no idea. ‘Any hotel that is very cheap, that is not fine at all and where no big man would like to go.’

The driver looked at him. ‘Oya Oga, enter.’
Thirty-five minutes later, the driver stopped in front of a building. It was  a single building, a  two  storey,  old and   shabby.

‘Make me I wait?’ The  driver asked.

‘No,’ Siva  said.  Siva took  out some naira notes   from  his breast pocket, handed them out  and  the driver   grumbled as  he took them. Siva watched him drove off.

‘Welcam to Nabiyii Resort,’ an attendant said to Siva. The woman had  heavy Calabar accent.

‘Can l get a room with you?’

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‘Yes. Just a minute, it will be ready.’
Siva concluded  the transaction.

Five minutes later, somebody came to take his things to the room through a shabby flight of stairway.

Like the rest  of the building, the orange Tarolene painting was  peeling away. The room was small, without blind on the doors and  window. The bed  too had  no cover.  From the dust crowded window, the city below was dark.

Siva stood there watching smokes melting into the darkness and the twinkling of smoldering lamps   in this  rural  outskirts of Maiduguri. He  expected that  Agatha would call again .  When she  did not , Siva knew  she  was angry with him.

Chief Bode Odide’s conversation  style was very peculiar. Siva  thought it was going to take  them through the night. How happy he was when it ended suddenly. Now Siva had enough time. If he took the first flight  from Maiduguri to  Lagos, he was sure enough to arrive  Shagamu  and prepare himself to Best Ahmend Buhari.

Siva came to sit on the edge of the bed before making a call. He was full of anxiety when the phone began to ring. When a voice came on, he did not expect Rose.

‘Good evening ma, is Magodo around?’ Siva was holding his breath.

‘Oh Siva! Good to hear from you. Yes, my husband is with me. Please let me give him the phone.’

The anxiety in Siva melted away. General Magodo Awila’s voice came on almost immediately.

‘Okojie?’

‘You don’t know how I am feeling, General, that I am able to get you.’

‘Any problem? What is the matter?  Where are you?’
 
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‘I will be leaving Maiduguri tomorrow. I am at the end of the investigation. I have found the murderer of Chief Usman Omotola.’

‘Impossible! What? I mean... My God. Are you telling me the truth?’

‘We can’t talk on the phone right now. As soon as the wedding is over tomorrow, I will come and see you. But right now, there is a problem. And if there is anyone who could help me, it is you, it is you.’
‘What are you needing help for?’

‘Chief Bode Odide wants me to take him to safety. I did not want to believe him, but he succeeded in convincing me that something wants to happen. But I don’t know what. He answered all the questions I have been asking. More urgently, some people are going to know somehow that he has seen me. And he was very sure they are going to annihilate his family. We must do something fast. I want you to help.’

‘Siva, this is not going to benefit any of us. We could be exposed to  serious problems.’

‘I want us to risk it. We are duty bound. The case is too serious to leave to chance. I am sure he knows what he was saying.’

‘I am not comfortable with this, Siva.’
‘I am very sorry, General. Nobody else is going to help me.’

Magodo Awila was saying something. Then he stopped. ‘All right,’ he continued. ‘let’s begin by calling in the police. That will arrest the situation in the meantime while we think of better ways to protect him.’

‘I have suggested that. But he doesn’t want the police. He thinks they are traitors.’

‘Then what does he want? I will call one military commander and tell him to do everything to protect him. I am sure he will like to remain in his estate?'

‘He is relocating his family, along with his brother who visited from UK, this night to a home he has

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elsewhere in Bornu. I will send the address to your mailbox as soon as I drop this call.’

‘It is all right Siva. Tell him they should all stay indoors. No one should come out of the house until the soldiers arrive tomorrow morning.’

Siva was relieved. ‘Thank you, Magodo.’

‘Then what would I tell you? Just be careful, Siva.’

‘I will do my best.’

‘Until you come back from the wedding.’

On Saturday morning, Siva had had his bath and changed to his travel clothes, before he took up his phone from the bed. A missed call was scrolling on the screen. It was a private line, so he could not call back. He knew that Ahmed could be full of anxiety.

Siva called Ahmed and reassured him that he was coming and he would take them by surprise. After a few minutes, the call from the private line returned. Siva pressed the answer key and spoke into it. But there was no voice from the other end. Siva waited for a response, the time was counting and he aborted the call. But the phone buzzed again.

‘Hello?’ Siva called. He knew that the person frantically wanted to reach him. It was probably a network problem.

But the voice Siva heard was terrifying. ‘The man you promised to keep safe yesterday, is dead,’ the voice said.

‘Could you please identify yourself?’ Siva tried to be calm. ‘This caller is not showing identity.’

‘Did you not know the man you saw yesterday?’

‘How did you know that I saw somebody yesterday? I want to be sure this is not some threat.’

‘I am Zugeru Odide.’

‘Oh! Doctor Zugeru. I didn’t know you are the one.’

‘Did I not warn you, Mr. Okojie? Your host yesterday is dead.’
 
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‘No Doc. He was going to relocate his family to another home he owns elsewhere which address is not safe to mention to you now over the phone. Soldiers are coming there this morning to give protection while we work out a way to move him.’

There was silence at the other end.
‘Hello? Hello? Is Doc. still there?’

‘I am listening.’

‘As I was saying, I concluded everything yesterday before I went to bed.’

‘You are naïve, Mr. Okojie. My brother should have known better than you. The house was burnt in the night with my brother inside.’ 

Siva screamed. Then he was all denial.  It wasn’t possible.  He was with him yesterday. Together, they partook of a light refreshment. There was no   sign of death.

‘No, Zugeru. Your brother is not dead.  No, no, no... he cannot  die.’ 

‘I am not returning to the UK now.’ Those were the last words. Then he ended the call.

Siva got instant paralysis. Quickly, he helped himself to the bed before he collapsed.  He looked around to be sure that there was no one around. He knew his life was not safe. But how was he going to leave Maiduguri? His first reaction was to switch off his phone. He was not sure they were not being watched.

Next, he began to unpack his   briefcase to be sure that transmitters were not worked into something through which he was being monitored. When he had completely unpacked, the ground became full of evidence, the proof he had been looking for. There were a couple of agreements and resolutions, worksheet, oath of loyalty, books, tape recordings, photographic films, video tapes, computer diskettes and so on.
 
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Though Siva had not bothered to see details, he was sure there was everything he had needed from the little he had seen. Siva took one engrossing look at the items that were supposed to expose the atrocities that have been committed in the high places. He was depressed. The evidence were no longer useful. When the owners kill him, they would take them back to their coven. Thus, the secret would remain closed.

Siva felt terror all around him, afraid to step out of his room. And time moved along intolerably slowly. When he managed and stole out of the room, he was in sheer panic. He had thought of confiding in the manager and owner of Nabiyii Resorts who also resided there. After telling him the situation around it, he would leave the briefcase in his custody. If he ended up being murdered, the hotel proprietor would know what to do with it.
On the contrary, Siva found himself asking the manager how the night was like in the area. But the manager observed that he was nervous.

‘Is there any problem?’ he asked.

‘No problem.’ Siva lied. ‘I was doing something. Then I missed my flight.’

‘I am sorry about that.’

‘Is it possible to see a taxi here late in the night?’ he held his breath.

‘I will be coming back late when I go out to see somebody.’

‘Twelve or even one o’ clock, they bring in traders from the central market who always return empty.’

‘All right.’

The man nodded slowly, then held out his hand. ‘Your one thousand naira.’

‘I know.’

‘It expires in two hours.’

‘I know. I have not got the receipt for yesterday.’

‘You don’t need a receipt. And we don’t have.’
 
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Siva felt a renewed sense of alarm. Could a hotel be run without issuing receipts? Something serious must be wrong with Maiduguri security system.

Siva returned to the room and began to wake up to the reality of Bode’s death. He logged on to his computer to see whether it had appeared on the news. It was not there. He had also logged on to some other news applications. None had the news.

The call could be a hoax, Siva thought. Zugeru might have been playing some stupid jokes. But when BBC News updated, there was news of a plane crash and Siva was surprised that it happened in Nigeria. Looking closely, terror struck him. It was the very flight he missed, the first flight from Maiduguri to Lagos. He read the details.

…according to the engineering crew, the plane, HZ25N did not have any mechanical problem as at the time the flight was called to be boarded. The plane with three hundred passengers on board suddenly developed some problems on the runway, crashing just at the end of the runway as soon as it took off, killing the pilot and seventeen others.  Seriously injured, the others are currently receiving medical attention. Investigation is ongoing to find the possible cause of the accident…

Siva hurriedly took up one of his phones. With shaking fingers, he searched Magodo’s line in the contacts and dailled it. His hands trembled as he lifted the phone to his ears.

‘Hello, General.’

‘Mr. Okojie, good to hear from you.’ It was Rose.

‘No, Rose. I need to talk to General.’ His voice went on octave.

‘Siva?’

‘Hurry, please. Hurry!’

Seconds later, Siva heard the General’s voice. ‘Okojie?’
 
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‘Yes.’ His throat was dry and his tongue bitter. ‘They... They roasted him and his family to death with his house. It has not appeared on the news. But his brother called me.’

‘No. It has appeared on channels television. I tried all your lines. What  happened to your lines. I don’t know what to say. Were you hurt in any way?’

‘No …but … but they have already attempted to kill me. I missed my flight this morning and the plane crashed. It wasn’t coincidental. They are following me everywhere I go.’

‘It is terrible. Bode’s family was not burnt in the fire according to the news.’

‘Channels doesn’t have the facts. Bode told me yesterday that he was going to relocate the entire family.’

‘Somehow, they missed the death. His wife is unconscious at the hospital according to the news.’

‘Zugeru did not say.’

‘Now listen to me carefully. Where you are is remote. I will get a jet ready for you at the airport at midnight. Take Okada from your hotel to the central park in Maiduguri. Mingle with the crowd. Make sure no one is tracing you. Then hire a car and come straight to the airport. I will be waiting at Abuja airport with a handful of security men.’

‘I cannot thank you enough, General. But I am scared. I am not sure I can start the journey tonight.’

‘No. You have no problem. Only,  don’t wait at the park.  Pay for car hire and come straight.’

‘I am scared. Tomorrow is good, General.’ He was screaming.

‘If you insist… but make sure you are early. Before faces are recognizable, be at the airport in the morning.’

‘I will, General. It is only God that will reward you.’

General Magodo ended the call.
Siva sat there on the bed, horrified. He could not get the images of Chief Bode Odide and the plane crash

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casualties off his mind. Siva sat there unmovable, the day crawling by refusing to give way for the night.

Rose banged on the table as Magodo dropped the phone.

‘Siva?’ She said.

‘Yes.’ he said . ‘Bode has told him all he wanted to know.’

‘He did not die in the crash?’

‘I thought he did when his lines were down. But you just heard him. I am surprised.’

Rose said, ‘We must do something fast.’
‘Yes. That should have taken care of him. But something went wrong.’

Rose was full of contempt. ‘Stupid. What are those boys telling me? Call Suleman Mustapha. He has to explain things. Call him Magodo…’

‘Yes.’ It was a deadly whisper.

‘Tell them to cover every track.’

In Suleman Mustapha’s estate in Kaduna the high walls and heavily armed guards separated the world from the internal activities. A network of fifteen computers was using GPS and codes to track certain people in a closed underground hall. On a separate screen, six men were reading a GPS map on the large screen.

‘He is stuck.’

They read the directions and distances on the screen. There was no change in distance. The last road on the map was Hamedu Bashiru Lane. But the source of the responding GPS was some thirty kilometers away. That meant that the hotel Siva lodged in was located in a place that is nonexistent officially.

The screen shifted and was replaced by a long review of their previous tracking of Siva. It began from a few days before, beginning with his departure from Hotel Ekaette in Yenagua, Bayelsa and ended in the unlisted location in Maiduguri.

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‘He thought by escaping the plane crash he has succeeded,’ one of the men said and laughed.’

‘He believes he is smart.’

‘Man, I am sure there is no way he would go more than the central park.’

‘The last road block took long. Siva is man.’

‘Can we say the last prayer for him?’

One more man hurried into the hall. ‘Unless if we are going to say Amen tomorrow morning, Oscar.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘We just got a signal to hold all operations for the evening. The subject has cancelled his flight for the evening.’

Siva had finished packing and had been waiting for it to be very dark. With mounting anxiety, he rushed down to the reception. Everybody had retired to his private life. Not even the receptionist was in sight. Siva looked at the clock. It was seven thirty-five. He hurried back to his room, took his things and walked out onto the street.

The street had got lonelier. The  harmattan had become a freezing night storm. Glow at the horizon revealed bush fire at several places. One Okada stopped in front of Siva.

‘Where?’

Siva remembered General Magodo’s instruction: Take an Okada, go straight to Maiduguri Central Park. Don’t wait at the park. Hire a whole car and come straight to the airport. Siva was not sure he was going to leave Maiduguri that evening. Already he had told Magodo that he was scared and his travelling had to be the next morning. Now he had no idea where he was going.

He asked the Okada rider to go, he was not ready yet. He started walking in the cold storm. As he hurried on, he realized that he did not know anywhere.

The thought of Chief Bode Odide came to his mind. The previous night, he was roasted with his house. And

Sons Of Eagle (Book One)             385

that same morning, HZ25N crashed, his scheduled flight. No matter how hard he tried, the horror kept coming to the front of his mind. He was filled with dread. Somebody wanted to kill him. But who? Is Bobosky safe? How would he get Agatha? He was afraid to switch on his phones for a second as he believed he was being monitored through it.

A taxi approached and stopped. Again Siva remembered Magodo’s instruction. Take Okoda.

‘No.’ he told the driver. ‘I am not going anywhere.’

The driver engaged the gear and sped off.
Siva walked for another ten minutes and saw one commercial motorcyclist ahead of him quivering towards him. When he stopped it, Siva almost asked, where will you take me?

‘The central park,’ he said to the rider.

Although Agatha had confirmed that Siva was not on flight HZ25N, she was still worried. She had called all the people she knew that knew Siva, they were complaining about the same thing. All his lines were off. She had sent mails and got no response. She was desperate now.

The newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Buhari had just started their honey moon in Lagos. They were not aware of the attempt already made to kill Siva. And Agatha did not want to spoil their honeymoon by breaking the news. Thus Ahmed with Rodia had no reason to excuse Siva for disappointing him as his Best Man. And the reason they had for Agatha’s eagerness to leave them was wrong. Read more In Print Book | Kindle Ebook