Chapter 2: The Green Ambassadors:The Chibok Girls Are Back!
CHAPTER TWO
First Encounter
It was already getting dark as The Green Ambassadors made their ways to their first point of call. The Green Ambassadors made their way along a narrow footpath, which was lined on both sides by thick bushes.
It was the rain forest of the north eastern Nigeria. They walked almost noiselessly until they had reached a large stream.
The stream served as the border demarcating one side of the town to the other community across the stream. Tied to a wooden stake beside the stream, are canoes of different sizes. On the other side of the stream was a faded signpost inscription;
BEWARE OF CROCODILES!
The signpost declared in the local language.
The Green Ambassadors edged closer to the stream. "It sounds like we are unwanted guests in this place", Wuraola, the-wild-west-thunder-bolt, said sarcastically.
"The dwellers here are not only unfriendly, they are also fetish" she added.
The stream surprisingly is only a few inches deep at a point but grew deeper at the middle. The Green Ambassadors decided to use one of the canoes.
"Come on guys, we will have to use the canoe", El-Kanemi, the-rubber-boy turned back toward the largest canoe as the others came to a stop amidst the stream.
"Who cares if it's one foot deep anyway, I'm not about crossing a stream whose habitats I'm not accustomed with", Amina the northern Amazon said with a smile and turned to follow the rest.
"Wuraola, watch out!"
Wuraola had not enough time to move before Amina had darted forward and pushed her aside. She staggered for a second, trying hard not to soak her glossy hair which she adores. And then, she fell with a splash in the deeper part of the stream.
Even as she fell, Amina the northern Amazon, in a flash, moved over to Wuraola, tucked her hand under her belt and shoved her aside. Few seconds later, the Giant African Crocodile clamped its large jaws over an empty space; the empty space was the exact spot where Wuraola had been an instant earlier.
Wuraola, momentarily submerged, rose again spluttering and waded back to the shore, oblivious of what had just happened.
"Can't you ever stop fooling around?" she snapped at Amina.
"Who is fooling around?" Amina asked looking innocent all the way.
At that moment, there was a loud sound as two of the reptiles were engaged in the fight for supremacy while the rest slipped into the stream.
The young heroes all followed Amina's gaze and noticed the reason why she had pushed her friend aside. The crocodile's fiery eyes gleamed menacingly at them for depriving it of its meal.
Wuraola stared at it in horror.
"Oh! I'm so sorry Amina, the adorable queen of northern Nigeria, you saved my skin" she said to her.
Amina just managed a sniffle, trying her best to tidy her hair.
"What are friends for?" Don't forget though, you owed me three special treats," replied Amina.
'How do you prefer your ice cream treats' asked Wuraola with a smile?
"I like my ice-cream dripping!" replied Amina with a sneer in her voice.
There was loud crackling sounds of laughter from The Green Ambassadors, since Wuraola was still dripping water from her fall into the stream; the joke helped calmed down The Green Ambassadors' already frayed nerves.
The Green Ambassadors moved quickly out of the water into the canoe and soon, rowed away down the stream. They rowed and as they approached the village, acting on a silent signal from Taribo, The Green Ambassadors rowed the canoe in between two thick over growth and slipped into its shadow. There they found a piece of land and docked there.
"We will have to wait till after dark", whispered Taribo. "We don't know how the people of this place will receive uninvited guests; there could be informants to the terrorists among them.
The Green Ambassadors all agreed. As they settled down to wait, Wuraola reached for her rucksack strapped to her back. "Anyone cares for some crackers" She whispered.
The sound of footsteps came from down the path along the stream bank. "Quiet!" warned Taribo immediately.
He listened carefully; his sight and hearing ability is super and above that of the human. He held up his fingers to indicate that four people were coming.
Few minutes later, the group of men stopped very close next to where The Green Ambassadors laid hiding. It was a bright night, and The Green Ambassadors studied the men in the moonlight.
The first man to come into sight and ahead of others was a tall lanky man with a neck the size of an ostrich. Two tall, slim young men closely followed him.
The three men had beard and the looks of extremists written all over them, and on a closer look, they all had rifles around their necks. Coming behind these men was an elderly man with fetish objects fixed to both of his bear arms.
"Hurry up, will you, Ahmeed," said the tall lanky man to the young man at the rear.
"You have been acting like a school boy who is going to see a girl for the first time", he said with a very strong Eastern ascent.
The young man came to a stop in front of the tall man and throwing quick anxious glances around the deep forest.
"Sorry Khalid, you know I have live in the city all my life, dark forest makes me nervous. I can face any situation in a showdown. But I kept thinking there are some wolves or hyenas in the next tree or undergrowth ready to spring a surprise on..."
"…Now I'm very certain you are about to make a fool of yourself, Ahmeed.
Will you just calm yourself down?
You are more nervous than a virgin girl who is on her first date", Khalid said as he gave a long hysterical laughter that rang through out the forest.
Ahmeed had gotten close to the undergrowth where The Green Ambassadors were hiding and was just deciding what next to do when something else happened.
El-Kanemi, the-rubber-boy, as elastic as ever, had stretched like a thin rubber band and moved along the stream shore and up to the top of a distant tree.
The ability to imitate other voices and sounds is one of the special skills of The Green Ambassadors. And from the top of the tree, El-Kanemi, the-rubber-boy let out deep perfect imitation of the hyena's laughter.
Soon, the other The Green Ambassadors team followed suits, as they let out a long hooting.
First, Ahmeed jumped off the road and straight into the stream. The other group never remembered their riffles and the protections of the charms provided them by the elderly hypnotizer.
They went scurrying off, down the path beside the stream. The hypnotizer, after chanting some incantations varnished out of sight.
The group of four men regrouped, with Ahmeed joining them later. He was still dripping water and as shaky as ever. At that point, El-Kanemi, the-rubber-boy was already concealed very close to the men.
"It…it…it…is true, I said it, didn't-didn't I tell you?
There could be more wolves and hyenas! Ahmeed said still jittery.
Khalid moved slowly in a fret of anger towards Ahmeed.
"And what did I tell you, you accursed child of Satan?"
"Take a hold on yourself. If you continue like this you will not be useful to me when it matters. I'm recruiting you because you know the town very well and you have behaved well until now.
You may be aware that there is no turning back now that the initiation and the oath had been carried out".
"Oh! I'm not turning back now; I have already done that right after the encounter back at the forest.
I'm clearing out first thing in the morning; I'm heading back to the city. You don't need me just to disperse few school girls across the desert do you? The three of you can do it".
Khalid faced Ahmeed with a smile, which concealed at the back of it, terror.
"I'm sure I didn't hear you right, Ahmeed, and I'm sure you are trying one of your jokes. But if really you meant what you have just said, then…"
The smile disappeared and was replaced with a more sinister look.
"Then", continued Khalid.
"I want to assure you that those girls are not the only ones to disappear from the surface of the earth. I'm sure you understand me? Oh, there are more than two hundred students to be cleared, that is very important information for you".
Ahmeed swallowed a gulp.
"Sure I understand you, I was just joking.
The hyenas gave me the fright of a lifetime but you can count on me."
"I know you meant what you have said Ahmeed", he said quietly and patted him gently on the shoulder.
This kind gesture from Khalid seemed even more frightening than his previous experience in the forest.
"Abubakar Shekau is turning over the operation in the city to you. And by the way, do you know…have you met Abubakar Shekau?" Khalid asked and allowed his gaze to move across the faces of the young men.
Two of the men shifted with uneasiness as a mark of apprehension.
Khalid returned his gaze to the oldest of the men and then spoke. "Jahimud, tell him."
Jahimud turned to Ahmeed, he looked at him pathetically before speaking, "he is a merchant of dead."
There was something in the way Jahimud pronounced those words that sent a cold fear into the hearts of the men standing. Even Khalid himself shifted his legs uneasily.
A cold silence, which can be compared to that in a graveyard, was unconsciously observed as the men exchanged quick glances of apprehension.
"Only few men ever messes around with Abubakar Shekau and gets away with it, that is, they got away six feet below the earth crust.
And those were the most fortunate of them. The bodies of those who were unfortunate where never found, that is all I can tell you about the man called Abubakar Shekau", Khalid said.
"We are going underground immediately we reach the town. From then on, we are splitting and we only come together when the need arises, okay? Moreover, for now, our task is accomplished since the Chibok Girls have been successfully evacuated."
The men set off down the path toward the city. The Green Ambassadors watched until they were out of sight, and then emerged from the bush.
"That is classified information even though not a good one. Our primary target has been moved to an unknown location. I have a strong feeling those were the Boko Haram commanders, said El-Kanemi.
"You mean the ones the major placed the red alert on?" asked Wuraola, still munching crackers.
"Yes, I guess so," replied Taribo.
"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's follow them".
"No, Taribo answered sharply. The rest of The Green Ambassadors looked at their unofficial leader shockingly.
"Yes, I agree with Taribo, let's forget them for now since the primary targets has been moved. I heard them saying they have been checked into some kind of a hotel which means they are cooling off for the day.
It seemed they are also working for the terrorists' leader called Abubakar Shekau.
Abubakar Shekau is our secondary target, we have to go after him, they seemed to be planning some sort of high level kidnapping across the state".
"We better proceed to the village from where they came," Taribo said. It sounds to me like the planned large-scale child kidnapping is going on successfully as planned.
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