Raped in the Desert

By Olayinka Kadiri

The suspense filled thriller is based on the contemporary social challenge of terrorism confronting the North eastern part of Nigeria. It resonates the voice and pain of rape, denial and oppression of the vulnerable female gender. It begins with the story of a young School girl Hauwa, the main character of the novel. Hauwa is the voice of one of the abducted School girls, their pain, and their loss and ultimately the triumph of overcoming life's many challenges, even in extremist conditions. Hauwa journeys from the abductors den to freedom, through torture, pain, fears and many near death experiences. But she will never remain the same as she emerges from these experiences a different person.

• Language: English
• Publisher: COMMUNE WRITERS INT'L
• Release date: Sep 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9791222443270

Book preview

RAPED IN THE DESERT

(A NOVEL)

OLAYINKA KADIRI

FOREWORD

In support of the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) movement, which gained international prominence online in 2014, Olayinka attempts to capture the plight of the abducted School girls in North Eastern Nigeria. She carefully exposes the fragility of Nigeria's socio-political fabric, the endemic corruption that has come to connote Africa's largest economy and most populous Nation and at the same time, she unravels the multifaceted challenges that affect the girl child in Nigeria.

While many of us in the Western World might rely on mainstream media to catch a glimpse of the horrors that afflict the female gender in 3rd World countries, Raped in the Desert presents a significant dive into the vitiate realities.

Never before as storytelling been so efficient as a tool for activism. Though her debut novel, she speedily reveals herself as a master of suspense and twists. This is one thriller that's sure to keep you glued till the very end.

James Brown,

Journalist and Book critic.

Chapter 1

Barawo!!! Barawo!!! Shehu … kora mani akuyan nan… su.. su,(thief!!!thief!!! Shehu chase that goat away now) Hauwa bellowed at the goat and at Shehu, wielding a short dried stick she picked from the fire at it. The goat had lifted the lid of the soup pot sited on the mud stove in the small hut which served as the kitchen. The goat would usually stroll to the kitchen hut and have a filled day with whatever chaff was left for it. It was usually left the shaft of corn which was a staple food in the area and also the bark of yams which the family usually ate at breakfast. The goat made a start to move but changed its mind and stood looking at Hauwa. She wondered what could be running through the goat’s mind, if it had any at all or maybe it was thinking instinctively like they say, all animals have instincts, she wondered. No wonder they behave like humans sometimes and hmm… sometimes some humans behave like them… animals… she thought to herself. Her brother Shehu who was four years younger than her didn’t even make a shift from where he was. His attention was buried in his books as he had two assignments to submit in school the following day, besides he had asked for Hauwa’s assistance to solve a math equation and she had refused to help him because he did not assist her fetch water from the village well.

Hauwa was 16 years old and was the second child in the family of six. Her father Baba Ahmed Baba was a farmer with a secondary level education. He had stopped at form 5 and had gone on to work with the federal ministry of Agriculture. His career was cut short at the government service after the ministry went comatose due to large scale fraud. The fraudulent activities of the staff and bosses was burst open when they got a new director who was a no-nonsense upright man. Upon discovering the fraud, he invited the Efcc, a government agency in Nigeria charged with recovering and prosecuting fraud cases in government offices and the Nigerian society. Most people in Baba Ahmed’s department were not spared and though he was an upright man, his job was affected. Ever since, he went into farming and sustains his family with the proceeds. His wife Laraba, taught in the village primary school. She had a teacher training certificate and was married off early at age 18 to him. She had only completed the junior secondary certificate exam and moved on to teacher training college. Because of the quest they both had for education but couldn’t get the best due to limited resources of their parents, they decided they would give their children good quality education at least to the university level. They did not discriminate between the girl child and boy child. In fact, they had four girls and two boys and all of them were in school. Hauwa was next to Hadiza who was in Senior secondary two and was seventeen, while Hauwa was in Junior secondary three and preparing for exams which would start in two months. Right after Hauwa was Musa and then Shehu. They were the only two boys and were also in the junior secondary school. Talatu and Zuera were the last two and they were six and four respectively.

Hauwa made a second attempt to send the goat away but it would just make a start and return back to the pot. She walked to the kitchen, picked the pot up and placed it on the raffia roof of the kitchen hut. Finally, she whispered to herself, I can have some peace. Then she looked at the goat and stuck out her tongue at it. The goat stood looking at her and bleeted meeee….

The Ahmed Baba family was from Konduga village in Borno State located in Northern Nigeria. The village is a sparse vast land with a population of about five hundred people most of whom were farmers and a few government workers. They had a lot of visitors from other tribes but were of the marghi speaking tribe. The Hausa language and Kanuri were also spoken by virtually every one if you stayed long enough anywhere in the state. The people practiced Islam, Christianity and you have some indigenous worshippers. The village was headed by a chief called an Emir. During the day, the village was usually quiet, except for a few old men and women who were left to take care of the home and the little children, who are not considered old enough to start school or go to the farm with their fathers. Konduga was generally quiet and the village only got busy during festive periods or whenever there was a traditional festival. The people generally embraced education as most of their older people worked in the government service and had travelled around the country. Their lifestyle was a little different from the norm in the Northern part of Nigeria where education especially for girls was considered an abomination. Every child whether boy or girl was put in school by their parents or guardians. Aside from the government primary and secondary schools present in the village, there was also a catholic primary school and another secondary school, about two kilometers away established by the Ecwa church which had a boarding facility. It was an only girls school. This was the school Hauwa and her sister Hadiza attended while the boys attended the government secondary school for boys in the next village, Yaleri Kunawa. Hadiza was in boarding while Hauwa was a day student. Their father only agreed for them to attend the boarding house in senior secondary as he feels they would have been matured emotionally enough to handle the stress.

Wayo Allah!!! Wayo Allah!!!.... taratata…taratata….there seemed to be pandemonium and a cacophony of voices shouting wayo Allah!!!.. wayo Allah…people were running and scampering for their lives. Gbum!!! There was a loud bang which sent some vibrations round the earthen floor. Hauwa was just about to pick up her literature note book to complete the note she missed the Thursday before, due to illness. She screamed at her brother Shehu, gudu, gudu, which means run, she grabbed her younger ones Talatu and Zuera. She picked up Zuera who was four and grabbed Talatu by the hand. Shehu came to her aid and they seemed confused. Their neighbor Malama Bintu ran into their house, she lived across theirs. She was screaming Wai yoo Allah!!! Wai yoo Allah!!! And shouted at them gudu.. gudu zua daji ( run to the bush) She was holding her six month old baby and her two year old son. They all ran into the bush bare footed. They could hear the sound of the sophisticated guns that were being fired. But none of them could fathom that sound that sent a vibration round the earth. Hauwa was panting and different things were running through her mind. She saw more villagers running towards their direction and she could see blood over some of them. A woman was carrying her son who was about six years of age and was screaming and crying. He was covered in his own blood. There was no time to ask questions and no one, everyone was scampering for their life and safety. Suddenly she heard a scream from Shehu wayo!!! He fell and went down with Talatu whose hands he was holding. Hauwa’s heart skipped, she was a few steps ahead of them, so she looked back at the sound of his scream and stopped briefly trying to catch her breath from fear and the run. He had been pierced by a twig among the bushes through his left foot and was bleeding profusely. Talatu lay on the floor crying and was almost trampled on by the stampede of those running for their lives. She shouted at him from the distance she stood, menene? (meaning what it is). A large cloud of dust had built up and from the hundreds of feet running and she couldn’t see them clearly. She didn’t get a response so she stood for a while caught between the thought of going back or continuing but she could not leave her brother and little sister behind, so she struggled and meandered her way through the thick cloud of dust and people, women, children and men all running towards the same direction. She shouted his name Shehu and asked menene, mai ya faru? Ka tashi mana, masu kitsa na zuwa, mu guje su domin- mutsira da rai mu! (Meaning what is it, what happened? Stand up now, the killers are coming, let’s keep running, we need to save our lives). She ran back still holding on to Zuera, she was close enough to see a man run over Talatu and the little girl let out a scream while Shehu writhing in pains tried to pull her up, yet another woman ran over her and this time she hit her head on the hard earthen ground covered with bushes, she didn’t scream, and Hauwas heart skipped, she let out another scream Talatu!!! Talatu, she ran towards them and grabbed her up, Shehu tried to shield her with his body while she lay on the ground. Holding on to Zuera on one hand and battling to know if Talatu was still alive, she gave her a look, the girl was silent and as she made to call out her name again, a massive young man of about twenty years ran towards their direction, all three of them went down…

Chapter 2

Kai, mai Kadoka? Mai ajaka nka? (Stop!!! what are you carrying, what is in that bag the soldier at the border post separating Konduga from Yaleri Kunawa, shouted to a young Fulani man whose age was between twenty eight and thirty two. He had a ramshackle sack containing some foul smelling items flung over his left shoulder and held a staff on the right hand. They lived among the people and were shepherds who usually moved from one part or village to another with their large cattle. Maru, yes that was his name, Maru, only this time he wasn’t shepherding any cattle. Even the young Ibrahim, his cousin who was always with him was nowhere to be found this time. Kai, the soldier shouted again baka ji nani (stop, can’t you hear me) the soldier shouted at Maru. He stopped and the soldier asked to see his sack. Due to the offensive odor oozing form the sack as he opened it, the soldier squeezed his lips and his nostrils and shouted meke, wari? (What’s smelling?) Maru opened the sack, it was full of charms and four jack knives and there seemed to be something that appeared like the skull of an animal only it was dried but still had a foul odor. The soldier asked Maru to empty the sack and alas, when he brought out the skull it was that of a man but had obviously been sun dried for a while. The soldier asked him to step aside and called on two of his other collegues who stood some thirty meters away. Then he moved on to Hauwa and her three siblings who appeared shaken with horror and had not eaten for two days. They had lived on water and fruits and some leaves they fed on with other people in the bush. They were in the bush when word got to them that the invaders that invaded had been driven out by the soldiers who had taken over the village. They stopped and searched every one coming in from the border village Yaleri Kunawa. Tomorrow was the market day and it appears for a long time there will be no market days. People came from Yaleri and other villages close by during the market days. Some come to trade and others come to shop. Yaleri Kunawa was the closest to Konduga village but it served as a link between the north and south of the other villages. There were a lot of travelers plying Konduga to other parts of the villages and towns and that made it a very busy village. News of the attack on the village had gotten out fast so most people avoided the village at least for now. The soldier asked Hauwa her name and where she was going with the three young children with her. Shehu`s left foot was still bandaged with a piece of cloth torn from his shirt and he limped after his sisters. She told him her name and that they had run into the bush during the attack. Then he asked after her parents and she told him they had not seen or heard from them since the attack. He allowed them pass and moved on to the next person. As they trotted along, Hauwa and her siblings saw blood on the ground as they walked along likewise blood a few corpses still littered around but they saw some being carried from the street. Her heart skipped, she had not even thought much about her parents, her elder sister and her other brother, Musa. She hoped in her heart that the invaders had not gone to their schools; she muttered a silent prayer to God and started sobbing. The whole village appeared deserted and only soldiers could be seen but they were few too. She made a turn towards the direction of their house and noticed that virtually all the houses had been burned or torched by fire. She left her younger ones and ran towards their house hoping that their house was still standing and that her parents would be home probably worried sick about their whereabouts. The house had escaped the burning but her parents were nowhere to be found. She wondered if they had gone looking for them. Will they be back? When and where have they gone in search of us? She wondered in her heart. Then she thought of who to ask. All their neighbors’ houses have been burned and just as a salad of thoughts ran through her mind, her Uncle Mumuye strotted towards them limping on his right leg, he shouted out weakly Hauwa!!! Hauwa!!!, Shehu  kana lafia? ( meaning are you okay?) At last someone was around to answer all her questions, she thought to herself. Uncle Mumuye whom they addressed as Kau which means uncle was their mother’s eldest brother and he lived close to the Emirs palace. He had two wives and seven children and it was being rumored that he was planning to marry a third. So the probability of the number of children he would have was going to increase. His older children Danladi and Nana were much older and had married. They both lived in lagos. Saratu was his third child and she too had gotten married two months earlier, she now lived in Kaduna. Hauwa answered her uncle babu da muwa (no problem). They ran towards him and he held them close. Hauwa felt some drops of water fall on her hands as her uncle hugged them, she felt slightly irritated but was overwhelmed by the fact that someone was around to provide her and her siblings with answers having been gone for three days without food and water. She broke the embrace and looked to his face to search for answers. She couldn’t believe her eyes,, her Uncle Mumuye was crying and tears ran down his eyes. He took her by the hand and cleared his throat and said Mun-gode wa Allah inna lafia (thank God you are alive). Then he shook his head. Hauwa was getting impatient with the suspense so she asked him, where are my parents, are they okay? Are they here too? I mean the village or have they gone in search for us? She asked her uncle all at once without waiting for a response. He squeezed her palm and said, you go and take a bath and bath the younger ones, then he turned to Shehu and asked what happened to his leg. He had started bleeding from the wound he sustained due to the stress of walking a long distance and besides he was yet to receive any proper first aid since it happened. Mumuye made a move to unbind the wound and have a look, a bad smell was coming out of it, he told them to take their bath quickly and meet him at home while his wives prepare food for them. He turned to Shehu and said, I have to apply some local herbs on that wound too so it doesn’t get infected. Hauwa asked again, Kau, what about mama and baba, terms they used to address