The gathering storm (The tale of a troubled Biafran)

Obiechere stared into empty space as his mind wandered aimlessly, thinking about nothing in particular. He held the transistor radio tightly to one ear. The channel was tuned to the Biafran station as was the case every other time of the day.
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Obiechere reached for his hunting bag to fetch his snuff box. He brought out the small container and tapped it gently before opening it to scoop a finger-full into his nostrils. He held his nose tightly to allow the effect spread in his charged head before downing the remnant of the raffia wine as if to wash down the snuff.
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Obi adjusted the radio to get a better signal as war songs wafted into the air. He sprung to his feet abruptly and marched mechanically to the rhythm of the song while singing along loudly.
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“Kama m’ga abu saboteur,
Kam nwuo n’iru agha, kam now n’iru agha.
Kama m’ga abu saboteur,
Kam nwuo n’iru agha, kam now n’iru agha”.
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Tears streamed from his bloodshot eyes as events of the past swarmed his troubled mind. Revenge is the only thing that keeps him alive; the urge to exact revenge from those who reduced his once exciting life to nothing.
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Obiechere was once a successful businessman. He owned his own house in Maidugri and one of the biggest supermarkets in the city. Obi spoke Hausa fluently and mingled effortlessly with the locals, even considering himself as one of them. It was until mayhem struck that he knew that, “one cannot call another place his home except his father’s compound”.
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January 2006 was the year demons possessed men to do their bidding in the name of a ‘holy war’. Crisis had broken out in far-away Denmark where someone was said to have insulted the holy prophet, Mohammed, in a cartoon. Muslims turned against Christians in rage. Borno was the epicenter of the crisis in Nigeria, Christians were the target and Ibos became the unfortunate victims.
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It was in the same year that Chukwu Okike Abiama opened his wife’s womb to bear children, after 5 years of misfortune. His twins, Adanne and Adanna, were delivered almost the same time the crisis broke out. Obi felt safe in the house he built, surrounded by Muslims he felt loved him having spent many years with them. On that day, Obi left his bundle of joy with his beautiful wife, to check on his supermarket. It was the last he saw of his wife and the children he sought for many years.
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Obiechere was lucky to escape with his head on his shoulders. His shop was looted and razed down by hoodlums. He fled back home, driving like a lunatic to escape death in the hands of Jihadist lunatics hacking down infidels. The calm street he left in the morning was boiling now as he inched closer home. He feared for his family’s safety, completely unperturbed by his shop going up in flames.
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As Obiechere approached the place he has called home for more than a decade, all he could see was thick smoke billowing into the sky. His neighbors started wailing helplessly as they sighted him. Obi screamed his wife’s name, then his daughters; Adanne, Adanna, as he rushed towards the charred remains of his burning edifice.
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People tried holding him down but he overpowered them and rushed into the smothering inferno. What he saw that day will continue to haunt him till the day he joins his ancestors, the charred body of his lifeless wife holding the remains of Adanne and Adanna. His wife and innocent babies were locked inside and roasted like Sallah rams as their assailants shouted “Allah Hur Akbar”.
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Obiechere was inconsolable; his life disappeared from his eyes just when he was beginning to enjoy it. Life lost it thrill and became hell for him. Everyday, Obi blames himself for the death of his household. He sees their faces covered in tears every time he sleeps, so Obi goes hunting every night to avoid nightmares. Anytime he sees children, he hears the cries of Adanne and Adanna.
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Obiechere returned to his people, living amongst them and refusing anyone’s sympathy. To Obi, he deserves to suffer for refusing to run with his family when he could. Now, Obi does not want to suffer alone. He wants those that kill in the name of religion to fill the agony of loss. Every morning now, while listening to Nnamdi Kalu’s radio Biafra, he cleans his locally made gun readying himself for the coming war.
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“A country that neither protected my family nor punished those who killed them without remorse, does not deserve my allegiance”, Obiechere he says.

very pathetic

Sad.

What a pathetic story. May God not let this protest degenerate into a full blown fall. We have lost enough lives already. This whole thing should just stop.

Such a touching story. And it's true...Its the tale of thousands who survived the bloodied northern streets, the brave ones who ran away. Obiechere is a survivor. many were not that lucky. But what Obiechere suffered affects every Nigerian today. The northerners are no more safe as their own brothers have turned against them. Nigeria is on the brink. But together we should try and fix it. War is not an option. War would cause the deaths of millions of people. At what cost? To have a country that may not survive?

I do not support Biafra because I fear it may not survive economically. If it could, then I wonder why our governors cannot develop our region 45 years after the war ended. Allocations come to us monthly yet we do nothing with it. Our capitals look like glorified villages. Our people go on self exile to other parts of the nation and beyond. How then are we supposed to be great when we have our own country? where will the money come from if Nigeria refuses to cede the Niger Delta or the Niger Delta refuses to form a country with us?

Our governors should as a matter of urgency develop our region. Our people should come home and develop with the government. We should be united in politics instead of working against out own interest. It is only in unity shall we be great. Our own country is good but it may just not be the answer we seek.

krimes:
Such a touching story. And it's true...Its the tale of thousands who survived the bloodied northern streets, the brave ones who ran away. Obiechere is a survivor. many were not that lucky. But what Obiechere suffered affects every Nigerian today. The northerners are no more safe as their own brothers have turned against them. Nigeria is on the brink. But together we should try and fix it. War is not an option. War would cause the deaths of millions of people. At what cost? To have a country that may not survive?

I do not support Biafra because I fear it may not survive economically. If it could, then I wonder why our governors cannot develop our region 45 years after the war ended. Allocations come to us monthly yet we do nothing with it. Our capitals look like glorified villages. Our people go on self exile to other parts of the nation and beyond. How then are we supposed to be great when we have our own country? where will the money come from if Nigeria refuses to cede the Niger Delta or the Niger Delta refuses to form a country with us?

Our governors should as a matter of urgency develop our region. Our people should come home and develop with the government. We should be united in politics instead of working against out own interest. It is only in unity shall we be great. Our own country is good but it may just not be the answer we seek.

I agree with you my brother. My only fear is that there are many Obiechere's who have scores to settle with Hausas, whether scores of the past civilian war or scores of past religious crisis. I fear that for such people; they do not fear war, they want war.