Fulani
My doorman,
Oga, fricipa wan see you.
Principal? Mr Richard? Why did he not call me, hope everything was alright.
The first look at Mr Richard, the Proprietor of Precious’ school told me all was not well.
Precious had been selected to represent the state in the junior high, science competition in Abuja, she had won, I was so proud of her, she was the only thing that gave me joy these days, I couldn’t even pretend to care about Remi and her pettiness, her round the clock obsession with being perfect and non offending made it increasingly difficult to share same space with her. No doubt, she could feel my increasing irritation and suggested she go be with her parents the same week precious was to be at the science competition.
Her win at the competition gave her access to the exhibition in Benue state reserved for the regional winners from all over the country. She was chaperoned by her school Proprietor, accompanied by staff and security, her safety was assured.
was.
the look on the proprietors face indicated her safety to be in the past.
Mr Richard?
Good day Sir, I’m afraid we have bad news.
We? until then I hadn’t noticed the lady quivering in the corner, Mrs Vashawn. The school’s guidance and counselor, a woman known for what best could be described as a mouse voice, Precious would often add, she walked like one too. This was the first time I would be seeing her away from her desk. Why was she here, in my house, standing so far off as though trying to put a mental distance to the singular object of red in the receiving room.
where is my daughter?
Alhaji, we were ambushed by fulanis in Benue,
wallahi ben taba je benue bafa. -
my security guard, fulani exclaimed, exonerating himself from implcations.
Come quickly, she’s in the ICU at the mayo specialist hospital.
They had struck while we were on excursion, taking soil samples to complete precious project. She had wandered off following the unusual increase in the iron content as she went farther into the Agatu village, she suggested we go deeper to the lush green areas which was a lot difficult to find but precious was persistent as always, she followed through on the trail of grass, one minute she was walking with two guards by her side, each helping to carry her soil samples, next minute she had rounded a corner and was being held down by fulani herdsmen, the security guys lost their lives trying to save her, they were able to get precious out of there but not before she sustained major injuries, she was immediately flown from the airforce base to the mayo specialist, the most prestigious hospital in the city. The doctor’s were doing their best to resuscitate her but she had lost so much blood.
blood blood blood,
that was what kept ringing in my head, the whole time the principal talked. Same as what I’ve been hearing for months now ignored, now it was my daughters blood, my precious, my precious child.
I was in shock, I couldn’t process my own thoughts, the last time I felt this way, she was six and for some unknown reason she had passed out due to insufficient blood in her body, we would later find out she was anemic and my blood and hers weren’t compatible,
(to be continued….☺)
