Lightseekers

by Femi Kayode

  ‘But if Kevin knew this, why did he go to Tamuno?’ I ask.

  ‘Kevin didn’t believe Godwin. Everyone knows he’s on drugs and tells stories. Kevin wanted to confront Tamuno and they planned to meet at Godwin’s place.’

  Chika moves to my side. ‘Are you sure?’

  Mercy takes a deep breath. I can see she’s trying to stay calm. ‘I’m sure, sir. I told him not to go. That Momoh was dead anyway. But Kevin is stubborn. I never liked that Tamuno guy. That’s why I rushed there when I didn’t hear from Kevin.’

  To be sure, I ask, ‘Tamuno was the one who invited Kevin to come to him?’

  ‘Yes,’ Mercy answers with a confident nod.

  ARROW OF WRATH

  It takes an enormous amount of control for Chika and me not to rush out of the Oparas’ house and go looking for Tamuno. But it will be rude to leave when the thanksgiving service we came for is yet to start.

  ‘I’m sure Elechi would understand, given the circumstances,’ Folake is saying, as Chika drives behind Elechi towards the church where the service is to take place.

  ‘Yes, but if I am right, then I think it’s prudent to have Inspector Omereji there when we question Tamuno.’

  ‘Is that not premature?’ Folake frowns.

  ‘He invited Kevin to Godwin’s compound,’ Chika says. ‘Which means he most likely pointed him out to the mob.’

  ‘He didn’t tell us he saw Kevin that day, or that he was even at the compound the day the boys were killed,’ I say, struggling with the idea that this Tamuno could have orchestrated the death of three of his schoolmates.

  ‘That’s weird …’ Folake says from behind. I turn to follow her gaze.

  We’re driving past the cannon at the roundabout. Normally, cars and people zip past with hawkers making desperate attempts to sell their wares. But today, the traffic is slower, and the pedestrians are gathered in little groups, talking animatedly, some looking at their cell phones and gesturing angrily. I try to shake off a sense of foreboding.

  I share Omereji’s fears with Chika and Folake, and suggest that it’s possible this might be the reason why the townspeople seem tense and agitated.

  ‘Surely people can’t believe so much nonsense without at least trying to know where it’s coming from?’ Folake asks with exasperation.

  ‘People are generally more likely to go with popular opinion than dissent. It’s not unique to Okriki,’ I answer drily.

  Chika kisses his teeth with irritation. ‘But this town takes the cake. Everyone’s on edge. Always ready to believe the worst of each other.’

  We’ve now left the town centre and are on a less crowded street. Elechi’s car slows and turns into a large compound with several vehicles already parked in front of a warehouse-like structure with a huge banner proclaiming it as the premises of ‘Light of the World Ministries’.

  Elechi drives to a less crowded space at the side of the building. Chika follows and parks the Land Cruiser next to Elechi’s car.

  Elechi walks over. ‘We’re parking here because we’re guests of honour. Mercy’s godparents are deacons here. Follow me, and we will enter through the side.’

  He waves at an elderly usher, who is smiling broadly and urging us to come his way.

  ‘Let’s just show our faces at the service and let Elechi know we can’t go back to his house for lunch,’ I say to Chika, as we follow the Opara family into the church.

  There’s singing already coming from inside. The entrance brings us in at the front of the church, right by the pulpit. We can see the whole congregation as they join the choir in a rousing rendition of a popular praise and worship song translated into Ikwerre. When the congregation of well-wishers see the Oparas, there are loud cheers, yodelling, and hugs. The music rises and changes tempo and Amaka even starts to dance towards the seats the whole family and we ourselves are now being guided to.

  We sing praises to the Lord

  He reigns!

  The singing and dancing go on for quite a while, but, enthralling as it all is, my mind is on Tamuno. Who is he? What is he hiding? Is he working for someone? The personality change the last time Chika and I saw him at Whyte Hall was startling. Could he, like Godwin, be on drugs? Is that what he’s hiding? Or was there a sexual relationship between him and Momoh? Otherwise, how could he have conceived of planting lewd pictures on Momoh’s phone? Which would more likely drive one to kill: the possibility of being outed or one’s drug addiction?

  ‘We serve a God who reigns!’ The Pastor’s booming voice jolts me to real time.

  Elechi leans back and whispers, ‘He’s the Senior Pastor. Jeremiah Oriakpu. Very charismatic. My wife and I come to evening services here when there’s no mass.’

  ‘Our God reigns over everything and every condition,’ Pastor Oriakpu declares again.

  The congregation shout their agreement with him in Hallelujahs and Amens. I catch Folake’s eyes. We are both uncomfortable with extreme displays of faith, being very conservative, lapsed Anglicans ourselves. She nods towards the back of Elechi’s head and I understand she’s enjoining me to remember why we are here. I’ll wait for the right opening.

  Several exhortations later, punctuated by more singing, standing, sitting, dancing to the altar, giving of offerings, waving of handkerchiefs and then comes a rather long sermon about the wisdom of thanksgiving. Pastor Oriakpu seems to be taking his time to get to the reason why we are here.

  I check my broken but functional watch. We’ve been here for fifty-two minutes and there’s yet no end in sight. I surreptitiously bring out my phone and check if Omereji has sent a message. Folake kicks my foot and I put it away, but not before confirming that there’s nothing from him.

  ‘Today, we’ve come for this special service to thank God for the life of our daughter, Mercy Opara –’

  Finally! I almost jump up in my own hallelujah chorus and dance.

  The Pastor points at us where we stand with the Opara family. He waves his hand, beckoning the family to the altar.

  The Pastor turns to the choir. ‘Let’s sing a good song of praise as this blessed family comes forward.’

  The choir raises another loud song of praise and Elechi motions for us to come forward with his family, I look at Chika who is shaking his head. I point to indicate that it would be rude if we don’t join the Oparas at the –

  The screams start a nanosecond after my eyes see the arrow shoot over Elechi’s head straight into the Pastor’s chest. I look back and there are several men in white robes wading into the congregation carrying machetes and bows and arrows.

  People are running and screaming. I pull at Folake, while Chika rushes towards the Oparas. He gets to the shocked family just as several of the men in white robes jump up to the pulpit. I am searching for the quickest escape; the entrance we came through is now blocked by men in white robes and skullcaps.

  I see Chika pulling the Opara girls into his arms and shielding Mercy by burying her head in his chest. Folake is calling the names of our children in rapid succession like an urgent prayer against my chest, although I can see she is also searching for an escape. But there is none. Every exit is blocked by the men in kaftans and kufis.

  My eyes shoot towards the altar and I see two of the men bend as if to check the Pastor’s pulse. A pool of blood is spreading from where the arrow pierced his chest. Amidst the screaming and panic, the men by the altar appear supremely calm as they rise up over the Pastor. One of them spits on the still body that I can guess is lifeless, going by the satisfied nods the men exchange.

  Then, one of them raises a gun and shoots into the roof. Folake stiffens in my arms but the men standing at the altar appear unfazed, even as debris rains down over their heads.

  ‘Listen and listen carefully!’ one of the men shouts and I recognise him as the spokesperson for the Muslims who had brought their grievances before the Chief at the community hall.

  Another gun is fired into the side of the altar, away from the choir, and this time there�
��s semi-silence.

  ‘We came for the Pastor!’ the man from the community hall shouts. ‘A godless man who has blood on his hands. And now, you must leave this place and go to your homes because we are about to do to it what was done to our own place of worship! Now!’

  As if on cue, the men blocking the doors move aside and people stampede out of every exit. Chika is ushering the Oparas out by the side entrance and I follow with Folake.

  We run towards our cars. I make sure Folake is safely in the back seat of the Land Cruiser and turn back towards the Oparas’ car where Chika is helping them. I rush to the side where Mercy is already in the back seat of the car.

  ‘Mercy! Are you okay?’

  The girl doesn’t speak, but she nods. I look at her and while there’s fear in her eyes, there’s not enough panic for me to suspect an imminent breakdown. Elechi climbs into the driver’s side and starts the car.

  ‘Follow me. I know a way to get home quickly!’

  Chika and I run to the Land Cruiser where Folake appears to have calmed down. I jump in the back seat with her and hold her tight, both our hearts pounding.

  ‘Watch out!’ Folake exclaims, as Chika steps on the accelerator and tries to avoid people running in different directions. I look behind us at the church building being engulfed by fire.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Folake asks no one in particular. Chika’s focus is determinedly on the road, following Elechi and several other cars.

  ‘It’s okay. It’s okay. We’ll be fine,’ I say repeatedly to her, until Chika starts slowing down.

  ‘Why are we stopping? What’s goi—?’ I stop abruptly as I see the pandemonium ahead of us. People are shouting and pointing. There are some bloodied people on the side of the road. Wounded people are being guided out of a compound.

  ‘The mosque,’ Chika says, horrified. ‘I think the mosque has been bombed.’

  In front of us, I see the smoke rising from the roof of the mosque where the crescent moon and the star are blackened by soot but remain strangely intact.

  ‘… we are about to do to it what was done to our own place of worship!’ That’s what the attackers meant. Someone had attacked the mosque and they believed it was on the order of Pastor Oriakpu.

  ‘Turn around! Turn around! Elechi’s turning around, follow him!’ There’s a tinge of hysteria in Folake’s voice, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. She wouldn’t be here if it were not for me. I think of our children, and my heart pauses and then pumps faster than before. We have to make it out of this.

  Chika turns the car wildly around and we are behind Elechi again, driving away from people covered in soot, dust and blood, with black smoke rising high from the roof of the mosque behind us.

  RAGING FIRE

  ‘OhmyGodOhmyGod!’ Folake is saying over and over, as Chika speeds behind the Oparas’ car towards the latter’s house.

  I hurriedly dial Omereji.

  ‘Alfurquran sent one about an hour ago claiming to know who is causing hatred –’

  The rage on the faces of the men running into the church will be with me for a long time. It was not a random rage. It was specifically targeted at that pulpit, and the man standing on it.

  The Inspector’s phone alternates between going straight to voicemail and giving the engaged tone.

  ‘Send a text,’ Folake says.

  I start typing, but before I finish, a text comes from the Inspector. I read out: ‘Can’t talk. Stakeout at Whyte Hall.’

  Chika nods as he drives faster. ‘That means he got permission to go on campus –’

  The traffic has slowed. We look around, and we can hear the noise coming from the distance. Elechi’s car makes another detour on to a gravel road and Chika follows swiftly. I look back and can make out people running and carrying children into the houses that line the road.

  Chika steps on the gas till we get to the Oparas’ house right behind the distraught Opara family.

  Elechi is speaking Ikwerre into his phone, and helping Amaka to guide a shell-shocked Mercy out. I run towards them.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Mercy is saying, but I can see she’s not. I can only thank heavens that the whole family was facing the congregation, which meant Mercy didn’t see the arrow diving over their heads straight into the Pastor’s chest.

  ‘I’ll take her in,’ Amaka says, as the women cooking at the back of the house run to her. They all burst into rapid Ikwerre almost carrying Mercy off her feet into the house.

  Elechi gets off the phone just as Chika and Folake reach us.

  ‘They say there’s videos of Pastor Oriakpu calling for the Muslims to be removed all over the Internet,’ Elechi speaks hurriedly. ‘The people who saw the video threw petrol bombs into the mosque and the Muslims got angry. That’s why they attacked him at the church. Now, Christians want to retaliate again. You must stay here –’

  The Pastor was killed, not attacked. But, I don’t say this. I look at Chika. ‘We can’t stay.’

  ‘What?’ Folake almost screeches.

  I face her. ‘We have to go to the campus.’

  ‘Through that mayhem?’ She shakes her head. ‘Heck, no!’

  ‘Sweet, we have to go. This is all related. The Okriki Three, Momoh, this riot in town, and I think Tamuno is at the centre of it all. We have to get to the university.’

  Folake is shaking her head in protest. ‘To do what?’

  ‘Find him!’ I turn to Chika but see that he’s already heading back to the car.

  ‘I’m coming with you,’ Folake says as if it’s a done deal.

  ‘No.’ There’s no way I am taking her back through what we just escaped.

  ‘You gotta be kidding me. There’s no way I’m staying here while you go back out there –’

  I cradle her face in my hands. ‘They need you here. Your calm, your logic. Mercy might break down and Elechi and her mom won’t know what to do. I can’t stay, but you can. Please, baby.’

  I kiss her before she can form an argument. ‘I’ll be right back. I promise.’

  ‘You better,’ she sobs, tears streaming down her face.

  I run to the Land Cruiser and have barely climbed in when Chika reverses at top speed. I catch one last look at Folake, her face stained with tears, and I’m determined that this won’t be the last image I’ll have of my wife.

  MAYHEM

  It’s madness in the town centre.

  Chika manoeuvres through the crowds of people brandishing leaves and chanting war songs. Many young men pound on the hoods of the cars struggling to drive through town. I knew Okriki was larger than the average town, but I never imagined so many people lived here. All of them angry.

  I turn to Chika. ‘You think the police station route will be lighter?’

  ‘Let’s try it.’

  I redial Inspector Omereji but he’s doesn’t answer. Chika veers off the road that is teeming with angry crowds and starts to drive through farmlands, and the backyards of houses. I hold on for dear life as the Land Cruiser bounds unsteadily over uneven ground and we near the police station.

  We get out of the car and run in.

  ‘There’s no one here!’ I almost scream in frustration.

  Chika is about to say something when my phone rings.

  ‘We have them!’ Inspector Omereji says as soon as I pick up and put him on speaker.

  ‘Them?’ I ask, not pausing our race out of the station.

  ‘All of them in one place. They did it, Philip! They planned it all.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Amaso Dabara and some kids from campus. We have them. The laptop, the drugs. Everything! We got them!’

  My brain is going in many directions, but I try to calm it. There is a noisy crowd coming towards the police station from the direction of Madam Landlady’s compound, meaning they are coming from the bus stop at the roundabout. The same direction that the mob that attacked the Okriki Three came from. I stem my panic and try to focus, ignoring the pain that’s coming from my bandaged
ribs.

  ‘Listen to me, Mike, do you have a guy called Tamuno there?’

  ‘Hey, which of you is Tamuno?! You! Answer me!’ He comes back to me. ‘There’s no Tamuno here –’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘At Harcourt Whyte.’

  ‘Which room?’

  ‘481.’

  Realisation hits me and I grab on to Chika’s arm as my legs almost give way. ‘It’s a diversion, Mike! You have to come back here. The town needs police more than ever. Whatever Tamuno was planning is here. Off campus. Come back quickly!’

  A petrol bomb flies through the air and lands on the rusty roof of the police station. The fire is immediate, spreading as another petrol bomb hits it from another side.

  We run into the Land Cruiser and Chika throws it into gear and hightails it.

  Inspector Omereji is still on the phone. ‘Philip!’ he yells. ‘Who’s Tamuno? What’s going on?!’

  ‘Come now! There’s –’

  The rear windshield of the Land Cruiser shatters.

  ‘Oh, shit!’ Chika cries out just as I also see it. A petrol bomb inside the car. There’s no time for me to climb into the back, pick it up and throw it out, but I’ll try all the same.

  Chika makes to grab me. ‘You won’t make it! We have to jump!’

  A searing pain tears through my ribs as I reach as far as I can towards the petrol bomb. Chika is driving fast, and his sudden swerve throws me to the side, stopping my progress.

  ‘Jump!’ Chika shouts.

  He opens his door, not stopping the car as we speed through the very section of road where Winston, Bona and Kevin were beaten and led to their deaths. The same place we almost lost our lives. This thought spurs me. I open the door on my side, the road spinning beneath me, and the crowd receding behind us.

  ‘Jump!’ Chika shouts again.

  I close my eyes and roll on to the hard earth, the pain in my sides making me see a bright hot light. I yell and open them in time to see the Land Cruiser explode in front of us.

  LAST SUPPER