UNDERWORLD

UNDERWORLD

Who bore them? I can never be intimidated. I am a man now. How will someone come to my house and rob me of my possessions. We will iron it out man to man. For your information I had once being a thug and I have been at the forefront of several riots. I have received several bullets and here I am standing unscathed. So forget. I remain unshaken.

         
Alaran community is one of the greatest in Onidodo local government area. The community is widely famous for their cooperation and the team spirit with which they achieve great communal developments even without the government’s involvement. One of the peculiar things about them is, there is no discrimination among them. The rich and the poor, the elites and the illiterates, the gentle and the stubborn all sit together to discuss developmental issues.

The people of Alaran community woke up in the early hours of Friday the 7^th of August only to discover a letter on each of their doorsteps. The men of the underworld have sent them the world scariest proposal. A proposal you don’t need to approve before it is done. The proposal was printed on a letter headed paper bearing the name of the organisation. The proposal reads:

“Proposal to Forcibly Claim Your Possessions through Lethal and Violent Means”

We, the above named organisation hereby write to inform you that we will be coming exactly a week from the date of receipt of this letter to transact business with you. Our demands are not much. Make sure your fridge is stocked with different assorted food items because we will be coming in very hungry. Make sure you have enough cash in your possessions or else hell will be let loose and make sure your door is not locked at the time of our arrival. Fuel your Generator and subscribe on your T.V decoders because we will watch a whole film on Africamagic before we leave. Do not attempt to call the police because the ammunitions we are coming with is nothing compared to the bamboo tree the police carry about that they call gun.

                                                                             Yours Violently,

                                                                                                                     Machete.

In response to this letter, the leaders of the community immediately convene a meeting of all house owners. The meeting was held amidst great tensions. Several people came up with different ideas on how to tackle the impending problem. One of the popular figures in Alaran community is a man named “Dongoyaro”. Dongoyaro is a dreaded member of the community. His body frame and physique is really intimidating. He has worked as a political mercenary for top government officials. During the last election He made away with a whole lot of ballot boxes despite the presence of armed security operatives. He is indeed a tough man. His muscular frame has prevented him from driving a car. The last time he drove a car the steering divided into two half while he was turning the wheel. He tried riding a bike too but he failed his hands and weight was too strong for the motorcycle, the motorcycle compressed immediately he mounted on it. Dogonyaro once had a quarrel with Kasali the cobbler. Kasali was unfortunate to have been a victim of Dogonyaro’s slap. Immediately the slap landed on Kasali’s cheek He started laughing uncontrollably and he started mentioning his ancestors one by one. According to him, he said he was seeing them in a trance. Kasali’s slap is enough to send one into a spiritual realm just like it happened to Kasali. Kasali recovered from the slap after two months although the scar still lingers on his face. A critical look at the face you will think he was badly burnt in a fire incident.

That day when Dogonyaro stood up to speak nobody doubted him. He assured them that nothing will happen. He beats his chest several times reassuring them that nothing will happen. At the end of the meeting they all resolved that Dogonyaro will be leading other young men from the community on a 24 hour vigilante tour round the community for the next couple of days so as to avert the impending threat.

The vigilante group marked out strategies on how to forestall a great security in preparation for the D day of the threat. The numbers of men were tripled on the real day the underworld men promised to come. Everybody was at alert. Different people brandishes different weapon. Dogonyaro proudly brandished his sharp cutlass. He raised it up and said proudly “With this cutlass I have disarmed several men. I have intimidated even military officials with this cutlass. Today will not be an exception”. He spat on the ground after that statement.

That night everyone was awake in the whole community fearfully awaiting the arrival of their visitors. As at 2am there was still no sign of them. The clock ticked past 3, 4 and in a short while it was daybreak. Dogonyaro laughed hysterically and boasted. “Ï told you, they dare not come. They must have been intimidated by our tactics” He further stated that the vigilante tour will continue, stressing that they can’t afford to let down their guard so they won’t be caught unaware. He dismissed the group for a while and told them to resume early for the night session.

Exactly a month after the underworld men wrote the letter. They came as promised to raid the community. The vigilante group has not stopped work. Their tactics are still intact. On this fateful day, Dogonyaro was not around. He travelled the day before to take care of his aged mother in the village. So Bafara was the one coordinating the vigilante that day. Bafara is not an energetic person like Dogonyaro but he believed so much in charms. Bafara had charmed so many people in the community. A notable one is the case of Awero. Bafara turned Awero to an Albino just because she turned down his marriage proposal.

The robbers entered Alaran from a route unknown to anyone till date. They bypassed the heavily armed vigilante and advanced into the community robbing each house in turns. While the robbery was going on, most of the unsuspecting vigilante group were at the community borders awaiting their arrival. The vigilante patrol group were the first to notice that there has been a breach. They instantly alerted the men at the borders so they came in full force to attack the underworld men. With Dogonyaro’s absence most of them were not confident. Bafara their leader suddenly realised that all his charms are nothing compare to the sound of sophisticated weapons he is hearing from a distance. Everyone was looking into each others eye. Who will bell the cat? Who will front the attack? No one is confident enough. They all decided to lay ambush for them while the robbers carried on in the community without any hindrance. Ambush is actually an excuse for their fear of facing them.

In less than one hour the underworld men has raided almost all the houses in the community. The last house to raid is Chief Dahunsi’s residence. The house is heavily fenced and sealed with Barb wire. The robbers saw that it is impossible to gain entry into Dahunsi’s residence so they decided to take their leave. But Dahunsi’s plan for them was different. From the top of his house He aimed his double barrel and fired at one of the robbers. The bullet landed on his thigh. The robbers immediately exchanged fire. It seems Chief Dahunsi has been expecting them. He immediately changed position found another comfortable position to shoot and let out another shot. This one killed one of the robbers because it landed on his skull. The robbers sensing danger immediately retreated. They tried to help their colleague  that was shot on the thigh but He was too heavy to be carried from the hot zone. Chief Dahunsi fired another shot which narrowly missed one of the robbers. The robbers had no choice. They left their colleague the injured one and the dead one and escaped with the loot.

Chief Dahunsi seems to be the hero for the night. When the cowardly vigilante group noticed that the gun fire had ceased. They moved in to the community trying to stage a false attack. They rushed to Chief Dahunsi”s residence and behold they saw two masked men on the ground. One dead the other one badly injured. By then women and young children had rushed out from their homes each weeping and lamenting over the properties they have lost and the incompetence of the vigilante group. Everyone was lauding Chief Dahunsi for his heroic act. The people vented their anger on the injured robber. They kicked, stoned and even spat on him. Chief Dahunsi came out of his house and everyone hailed him. He advanced towards the injured robber and unmasked him. The crowd behold the face of their very own “DONGOYARO”.

                                                                                                              

ff @asiricomedy