by Adaora O
More grunts, a shriek, and thuds came from the far back of the main building. A loud bang crashed on the gate. The bang came again accompanied by metal rattling and shouts of “Open this gate!!! Open this gate now!” Chinny crawled out of hiding. The humour was not lost on her companion as he watched her scurry towards his crouched-on-all-fours self. BANG! BANG!! BANG!!! rang through the now quiet villa. Words were not needed to express the terror in their eyes as their sweaty foreheads and palms did the honours. Summoning all the courage he could manage, Kenneth dared to peer above the windowsill to see Chief Utah and one of the OPS VOID officials, his gun held in position, walking cautiously towards the first gate. He observed that the second villa guard lay immobile on the villa grounds. Chinny who still crouched under the window with her eyes shut tight in fear, summoned courage to open them and had just asked Kenneth what he could see when the villa gates swung open and four military boys swept in.
More gunshots rang out and Kenneth whispered in alarm, “Oh no, no, oh no! It is Sam’s boys. Sam didn’t get the message in time!”
Stretching out flat on the floor, Chinny asked in quick, short gasps, “Who is Sam?”
“My friend in the army,” said Kenneth, not taking his eyes off the chaos outside. Chinny was going to ask if they were the ones shooting when she heard Kenneth curse with a word she believed just terminated his pursuit for priesthood. The next words from Kenneth jolted Chinny into a kneeling position. “Whaaaatttt!!!?” she cried as she confirmed the arrival of her parents and Ejiofor to the villa. One of the military boys moved the villa guard on the floor with his boot to check his consciousness. They appeared agitated and somewhat confused.
“I want my children! Where are my children? Chinny! Dubem!” Dede bellowed like a mental-asylum escapee. Her heart thumping in her throat, Ama marched in right behind her husband, intent on tearing down every wall till she found her children. But something stopped her in her tracks. She stood transfixed, staring at Chief Utah for several moments; he looked familiar. And then, it all happened so fast. The atmosphere outside became hostile once again. A face-off erupted between the OPS VOID agents and the military boys but just before it went out of hand, one of the OPS VOID agents called out, “Kamal!… Kamal! Wait. It’s me… I am the one… Sydney.” As he made to remove his head mask, he motioned to his colleagues to stand down while the military officer who he addressed raised his hand to stop his already advancing team. As soon as Sydney revealed himself, Kamal’s eyes lit up with recognition. They bumped shoulders and soon, the two groups flashed their different identification cards as Sydney explained the operation to the military. They were OPS VOID and came on Chief Utah’s request to uncover a suspected misconduct in his villa’s operations.
One of the villa guards who took them around for the supposed fumigation lay unconscious inside the van from the chloroform-laced mask he wore, but the other guard’s bulk required a higher dose of chloroform in his mask, so he did not go under. Realising the situation, he tried to put up a fight and took a blow on a particular spot on his spine. This explained why he lay motionless. Unconscious, the remaining staff were in the van, affording time for a proper search. Kamal explained their presence as an intervention assignment, directed by their boss but while he spoke, his phone rang and after the call, he halted their mission and began to retreat with his boys.
Ejiofor started to walk towards the chalet and at the same time, the OPS VOID agent who knocked out the villa guard began to tell Chief Utah about something that needed his urgent attention when the doors of the mini-van were flung open. The military boys on their way out turned back to the villa grounds in one flash, taking formation with the OPS VOID agents.
Fifteen minutes went by fast and all the staff being held in the van regained consciousness. Amidst all the chaos, a few of the staff had rained a myriad of punches on the OPS VOID agent whose watch they were under and made sure he lay injured, before they retrieved their confiscated guns to attack the agents and military boys. The innocent villa staff huddled together in the far corner of the van while a fierce but short-lived gun battle ensued. An agent provided cover for Chief Utah as he ran into the third chalet. A cluster of flowers beside the chalet that Chinny and Kenneth peered from gave refuge to Dede and Ejiofor. But as Ama ran towards the safety of the buffer zone, she fell backwards. “My mother has been shot!!” Chinny screamed and without thinking, flung the chalet doors open and, running to her mother, pushed Kenneth aside as he tried to stop her.
The OPS VOID agents and the military working in unison, brought sanity back to the villa. A situation assessment showed that the two villa-guard ‘fumigation escorts’ had got caught in the crossfire and lay dead, while the other five suffered injuries of varying severity. One of the staff inside the mini-van had an arm injury while an OPS VOID agent suffered a flesh wound on his thigh. All other agents and military boys were fine.
As Chief Utah emerged from the safety of the chalet, Dede and Ejiofor who did not have the time to nurse their scratches – a testament of the bravery they expressed in crawling on paved floors and around rough flower shrubs, ran towards the buffer zone with Kenneth in hot pursuit. Dede looked frantically over his wife and child and let out a relieved sigh when he did not find any gunshot wounds. Ejiofor gently helped Ama to her feet. She had only slipped and so had Chinny. Kenneth stretched out his hands to Chinny to do the same but became alarmed when she neither opened her eyes nor moved. Dede scampered to his daughter’s side and tried to rouse her. The alarm in Kenneth’s eyes as he felt for Chinny’s pulse and prised her eyes open to examine them betrayed his calm exterior. Something appeared terribly wrong with Chinny and Ama let out a shrill, anguished scream. For some inexplicable reason, Chinny lay on the villa grounds, unconscious.
The military and OPS VOID operatives immediately swung into overdrive. While some talked animatedly on their phones, others scanned the villa perimeter for possible intrusion or ambush. Abuzz with everyone talking simultaneously, it was impossible to understand what any of the operatives said over the phone or to know what to expect. Chinny was carried into the chalet. Her parents and Ejiofor were asked to stay with her while they waited for the ambulance, which was already on its way. On confirmation of Kenneth’s medical background, he was asked to further evaluate the state of the injured staff on the villa grounds and those in the mini-van.
Led by the private security agents, Chief Utah walked to his basement which could also be accessed from the back of the building. The military boys stayed vigilant, their eyes darting around the villa grounds and perimeter fence. Chief Utah could not contain his anxiety as he dragged his unwilling legs to the one place he tried his utmost to avoid like a plague. They got to the huge metal door that guarded the basement. The door had a security feature and needed a combination of numbers to be accessed. A security agent explained to the chief that on getting to this part of the villa, his security guard, who now lay dead, told him that there was no need to fumigate that area as it had neither been used nor opened in many years. When the agent insisted, the villa guard informed him that only the chief had the combination. “This made me even more suspicious, so I insisted on asking you for the combination. I think your guard became certain then that something more than a fumigation was going on. On our way to you, he tried to jump me,” the guard finished.
This further confirmed Chief Utah’s suspicion since his security detail and all his domestic staff – including his two cooks, knew the combination. Once he entered the set of numbers, the door to the basement that his late wife once used as her budding perfumery swung open. After his wife’s tragic death, he stayed away from the basement and plunged himself into making as much money as he could, giving some back to various charity organisations, one of which was Royale Academy.
At the point of admission, parents would sign a non-disclosure agreement, prohibiting them from divulging to anyone – even the children involved, that no admission, accommodation,
boarding and sundry fees were required. Chief Utah’s decision on this process stemmed from his observation of man’s bent to soon despise whatever cost little or nothing. Royale Academy comprised one hundred per cent of students who possessed outstanding intellectual capacity, eighty per cent of whom came from indigent homes. The status of this clear majority was often confirmed after a series of remote investigations had been carried out on the individual families. And so, thanks to Chief Utah, over-the-moon-at-her-admission Eniola Okoye would never suspect that the so-called funds provided by her late father for her education would never have gone the distance.
13
The thick stench that enveloped them as soon as the basement doors flew open would cause even pigs to run for cover. Revulsion-laced nostalgia swept over Chief Utah. Fond memories of bright white lights, floating in the intense blend of sweet wood, nut and fruit clashed with the present murk and stench. Not able to handle the unpleasant smell any longer, Chief Utah stepped aside to allow the agents to move further in. While he relaxed in the welcome ambience of fresh air, he wondered if Dubem would not have passed out inside such stench. His thoughts dwelt on Chinny and what may have caused her unconsciousness. Three of the security agents came out of the basement with a trail of sixteen teenagers, all walking in a daze. As the other two security agents came out after them, Chief Utah snapped out of his initial shock and told them that the boy who was the reason for the operation – Dubem – was not part of the sixteen. They were all girls.
One of the agents walked back into the basement mumbling, “That means we need to search some more. These girls are not in any position to answer any questions right now.” Another agent followed. The girls sat on the floor in the front yard, while Chief Utah waited, hoping Dubem would emerge with the agents the next time they came out. Not able to wish the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach away, Chief Utah sensed rocky days lay ahead. The crime had happened on his property, with the perpetrators either dead or in a critical condition.
The ambulance arrived, whisking Chinny and her protesting folks to the hospital. They wanted Dubem to be found and brought to join them. The military called for more ambulances to take the girls to the hospital, and the police to take the remaining staff to the station for questioning.
Chief Utah’s hopes crashed when the agents came back without Dubem. Concluding they may have to wait for the injured staff to recuperate before opening any investigations regarding Dubem’s visit to the villa, the agents began walking to the mini-van. But when Chief Utah remembered the secret safe, he knew his days of evasion were over and led them into the basement. He tore off a life-sized wall painting to reveal a steel panel with number-engraved buttons, which he punched. A hidden door slid out and downward to let them into a hole in the wall. There lay Dubem, battered beyond recognition, hidden in a corner of the life-size safe in one unconscious heap. Within minutes, Dubem lay outside waiting for the next ambulance. His wounds looked septic.
Thankfully, Halfeet Security Agency – the group responsible for deploying OPS VOID – were on hand to give a full professional statement at the police station. This validated most other statements. One of the villa guards, after receiving the well known ‘detention induction’, sang like a canary and confessed to the entire crime.
“After Chief Utah lost his wife, we took advantage of his pain and growing aloofness. His incessant trips and continued withdrawal from most of the businesses he ran with his wife before her death gave us the opportunity to run the villa and his other interests. We also ran other ‘deals’, using him as a front. The basement is our collection point for the err… girls we trade.” Most of the girls who came from polygamous or underprivileged homes were either abducted or received from their willing parents after a promise of a better life through their children, who would be taken to work abroad.
When asked if there were any actual plans to take the girls abroad and if so, how they intended to fund their travel, the staff said, “We tell the families that the chief is running a charity program and would send their daughters to either America or London where they would work. We promised that their children would send monthly returns from their salaries. When the girls are in the basement, we brainwash them by telling them every day, that they are the luckiest girls in the world and that nobody is looking for them. To keep them calm, we infuse cannabis into all their meals and add the juice from the leaves of St John’s wort plant into their water. After four weeks, we transfer the girls to the Dominican Republic.” The near four-week wait afforded them the time to tie up all the logistics before they sent the girls off to Greater Santo Domingo by sea.
Over time, a few families grew wiser and began to question the authenticity of the chief’s so-called charity program but were cruelly informed that Chief Utah had the police and the military on his pay roll and would pulverise their entire lineage if they pushed for any more information. As would be expected, these families often slid back into their shells and suffered their grief in silence, hoping their children would find their way back to them someday. The villa staff outside the crime web lived in constant dread, never discussing the happenings in the villa – even amongst themselves. Chief Utah’s reputation had been thoroughly maligned by his trusted security detail.
On the day Dubem delivered his letter, Chain – the lead villa security guard – was out on other ‘business.’ Rake, his second-in-command, reckoned that letting Dubem run free after his visit may be a bad idea as he did not appear to him as one who would back down and forget about his money after a few shoves. So, he decided to detain and ship Dubem off with the girls. He planned to ask their partners to drown him in the North Atlantic. Thanks to the villa staff’s working relationship with a handful of the officials at Sabana de la Mar wharf, so far they had successfully transferred four ‘consignments’. This foiled attempt would have been their fifth, after which they had planned to go on a long recess – foreheads and eyebrows had started to furrow.
Torturous days followed the crime bust, ruffling Chief Utah’s dovecote of a simple existence. The investigations grew convoluted and showed no signs of going away any time soon since international human trafficking could not be ignored. A report made to Abuja Police Headquarters caused an immediate invitation of the Enugu State Police Commissioner and Chief Utah for further investigative chats. A formal appearance at the Dominican Consulate in Abuja also seemed apposite.
*
Once at the hospital, Chinny regained consciousness but would not stop screaming in pain. X-ray scans showed a swelling in her brain from the impact of her fall and this made a drug-induced coma necessary. Once Chinny and Dubem were settled in the hospital room, Kenneth left for his base, with a promise to call frequently and check in on them as soon as he could. Ejiofor went home a few hours after and said he would come with some breakfast the next morning.
Dede and Ama spent agonising hours praying fervently for their two children. Hospital policy neither permitted relatives to spend the night in the reception area nor allowed two patients to sleep in one room, but the hospital management stepped down the rules for the Onas who could neither afford separate rooms for their children nor an extra room for themselves. The hospital waived the usual standard deposit and allowed husband and wife to pass the first few nights on the hard reception chair and lone chair in their children’s hospital room interchangeably. They also gained access to the hospital facilities like the bathroom and kitchen area. The style and maintenance of Safe Trust Hospital – the biggest and most equipped hospital Item town could boast of – could not be compared to anything Mr and Mrs Ona were used to.
At almost ten-thirty the next morning, Dede, much to his disappointment, realised that Ejiofor may have decided on better things to spend his time on other than bringing breakfast for the parents of his sick friend. Marvelling at how unreliable man could be, even with his best intentions, he went to the hospital kiosk to buy some bread and two sachets of powdered milk. T
he hospital kitchen in their magnanimity lent him cups and spoons. Ejiofor showed up late in the evening with an unconvincing story and under-dressed apology. He seemed distant and in a hurry to get away at the first opportunity. Ama and Dede did not dwell on Ejiofor’s behaviour longer than necessary. They decided he owed them nothing. Besides, they were thankful their children were still alive.
This whole time, the Onas could not communicate with anyone that would have cared. Nobody could find Chinny’s phone. Ama’s was destroyed during the chaos at the villa, Rake seized Dubem’s while Dede, a man still in the process of getting used to carrying a mobile phone, had left his at home. Dede bought a few essentials at the hospital’s utility store with the hope that they would be on their way home soon. Grateful for the unusual generosity received from the hospital, Dede and Ama moved around the building like mice, not wanting to tip their receptacle of benevolence. Future insight would later prove that the overly accommodating disposition of the hospital towards Mr and Mrs Ona was due to the welcome influx of sixteen female patients, traced to the involvement of the Ona children in uncovering a crime web. More welcoming was the pledge by the state government, to be financially responsible for the hospital bills of all sixteen girls.
On the second night of their stay at the hospital, Dede confided in his wife. He had been employed to work in a vegetable oil processing company.
“When?" exhaled Ama, almost falling off her chair. It took the patience of a saint for her to sit still and listen to her husband’s explanation.