Thank you to the many Nigerians that have through their actions, words, tweets, rallies done something to create a global awareness for the missing Chibok girls. Incase any member of Boko Haram is reading this, we plead that you please bring back our precious souls. It is cowardice to go after defenseless children that have done nothing to you. I pray and desperately hope these children will not be psychologically traumatized when they are returned back to us.
Please read and share the story. Let's work hand in hand to bring back these girls. Thank you :)
She woke up in the night on instinct to check on Aramide. She
looked at her husband as he snored lightly and smiled. She stood staring at him
for a while amazed at how after twenty years of marriage and a lot of family battles;
she still wakes up beside him with more passion and love than she had when they
just got married. He was the one that stood firmly beside her when his family
members tried to get rid of her because she was having a delay in giving birth.
She kissed him on the forehead as he stirred, turned to the other side and
continued snoring lightly.
She closed the door gently after her careful not to wake him up.
It was a Saturday morning and he really needed to rest ‘cause of the stress of
the week. She went to Aramide’s room and found her sleeping peacefully with a
smile on her face. She wondered why her daughter always has a smile on her face
even when she is crying. The whole family finds her amusing and her friends
can’t seem to get enough of her daughter. She smiles, looks up to heaven and
says a silent ‘thank you’ to God for the gift of life, love and family. Though
it’s just the three of them, she was more than contented and didn’t mind the
whispers from her mother-in-law who feels the big house they live in should be
filled with the cries of a lot of babies.
******
She finally stood up at 1:00am after tossing from one side to the
other. She couldn’t sleep. She looked at her husband snoring lightly beside her
and she detested him in that moment. ‘How was he able to sleep soundly? What
kind of a father sleeps when his house is on fire?’ she hissed loudly not
caring if she wakes him up and left the room to Aramide’s room. She looked at
the bed and smiled. Then she started laughing hysterically and finally, she
sank to the floor and started sobbing loudly. ‘I waited for this for ten years
God. Why would you take her now?’ she screamed and that woke her husband up. He
came running to her side afraid something might have happened to her. He found
her in their daughter’s room on the floor holding the teddy bear that belonged
to their daughter. He put his hands on her shoulder but she pushed it away. ‘What
kind of a person are you? You were able to sleep Ayomide. Who sleeps when his
only daughter is missing? I know… I know. You can always start another family
right? I’m the one with the damaged womb. So you can always give birth to more
children. How am I even sure you don’t have children with another woman? That
mother of yours could have brought a girl to you. I’m sure she is happy now. My
Aramide is gone.’ She stomped out of the room leaving him with tears in his
eyes. ‘Does she really think I don’t miss my princess too?’ He sat down on
their daughter’s bed and just stared at the family picture on Aramide’s bed
side drawer.
He smiles as he remembers the struggle they had to go through
before they could take that picture. Aramide was six months old when they went
to the studio to take that picture. She was such a playful baby she could not
stand still as the photographer tried to take the picture. He can remember his
wife getting frustrated as she tried all she could to make her sit still. She
handed her over to him out of frustration and was already going to call off the
photo shoot. It wasn’t her fault. Aramide refused to sleep the night before and
that meant his wife didn’t sleep as well. He carried Aramide and started
throwing her up the way she liked. Her giggles and bright smile were captured
by the photographer without them knowing. She finally sat for a few seconds for
the family picture to be taken before she continued playing again. The picture
of both of them hangs at the entrance of the house and he stares at the picture
most days. What joy he felt being a father and watching his daughter grow up
from that agile baby to a sharp mouth intelligent ten years old. Those ten
years have been the best years of his life. ‘Are the best years of my life
over?’ he thinks to himself as he allows the stinging tears in his eyes fall
freely.
The country has not been the same. Nothing good is reported
perhaps except one celebrity get married or another acquiring a new car or
changing girlfriends. Other than that, news hasn’t been the same. Nigeria has
become a living hell for most people. People are dying anyhow. Most blame it on
the incompetencies of the government and he agrees. Most nights, his wife weeps
beside him as they watch the news together. ‘Is this the country Aramide will
grow up in? What will become of our baby girl?’ she once asked him with teary
eyes. He muttered something and turned his face from hers afraid his fear will
show brightly through his eyes. Eniola called him from work one day and started
crying on the phone; ‘There was another bomb blast in Abuja. Ayomide, it’s
close to where Demola, my brother works. What if…’ she could not complete the
words before she started crying again. He held the phone to his ear wishing he
had something soothing to say. ‘This country has failed us Ayomide. My daughter
will grow up here, in a country that has failed her. Children like her are
being given to shameless men as brides. Because of lack of employment, millions
are going for a job that about 5oo hundred people will be employed for. Funds
meant for the security of all of us are being stolen and some idiots are being
paid to report lies. To tell us the president is doing a good job and should be
allowed to continue. They are telling us they are working to get rid of these
Boko Haram people with no conscience. Everything is going wrong yet, some
people are throwing lavish parties like the affairs of this nation do not
concern them. Ayomide, are we going to just fold our hands, do nothing and
allow our daughter live in hell?’ she asked him after her friend told her of
her cousin that was killed in the north by Boko Haram. That night, they watched
Aramide sleep peacefully on their bed determined to keep her safe for as long
as they lived. If only they knew, they wouldn’t have let Aramide go to school
that Wednesday.
The day started like most days of the week. Aramide cried that
she didn’t want to go to school when her mum went to wake her up by six to get
ready for school. Aramide had just started going to secondary school two months
before. Her parents didn’t want her to go to a boarding school because they
wanted her close especially with everything that was going on in the country
and the way people are being kidnapped and killed like pests regardless of age.
Aramide, a very bright girl whose extraordinaire performance after just about
two months in JJS 1 hated mornings. Waking her up to go to school especially on
Monday mornings usually required her mother threatening to beat her though she
would never do it. Though an only child, they were careful enough not to spoil
her silly.
Aramide kissed her daddy goodbye as he left for work. She got
into the car and complained throughout the forty-five minutes ride to her
school about her English teacher that spoke poorly and the immature boys in her
class. Her mother just smiled to herself proud of her little princess. She
dropped her at school and hugged her tight before leaving; promising Aramide
the driver will not delay in coming to pick her this time.
‘What do you mean the school was scattered and you didn’t see my
daughter?’ Eniola held the driver’s shirt as her husband tried to calm her
down. She turned to her husband, ‘Ayomide, shey o gbo nnkan ti o so ni? O ni ko
ri Aramide. He said people said the children were carried away by gunmen. Omo
mi wa lara won and you want me to calm down?’ she released the driver’s shirt
as her husband pulled her into a tight embrace which stifled her tears. They
went to the police station after she had calmed down. On getting there, they
found a lot of parents they recognized were from Aramide’s school. They were
all complaining about the missing children while the police failed miserably at
assuring them of their competence to find them.
It’s been three weeks now and the children are yet to be found.
The police are giving stupid statistics of how many children are really missing
and the president is making empty promises that he will find the children while
he sits comfortably in an air conditioned office. She watched the news last
week. The first lady was being dramatic and she felt like slapping her. She can
still dress well and eat because it’s not her children missing. The police and
security agency are showing their lack of competence yet again and only giving
stupid press conference about the efforts they are making. All lies!! Her
future, her hope is gone and with each passing day, she feels like she is
drowning. She had not been able to go to work and it’s a good thing her Boss is
an understanding person. Ayomide has employed the service of a private security
agency to help find his daughter and has also gone on different Television
stations and Radio along with some other parents to appeal to the Boko Haram
who are the suspected kidnappers. He wrote an open letter to the president
asking him to indeed act like the father of the nation and do something; even
if it’s the only thing he can do before leaving office. The general public has
been so supportive as most have organized rallies to appeal to the national
assembly to take action.
Eniola watched as her husband’s chest rose and fell rhythmically.
When she could no longer stand the fact that he was sleeping, she woke him up.
‘What if we never find her?’ she asked him. ‘Hey, don’t think like that. We
will find her. I promise you, I will bring our baby back home.’ She stood up
from the bed and paced about the room. Then she stopped and looked at him with
tears in her eyes…
‘What if we never find her Ayomide? What if we never do? I’m
finished. I let my daughter down. I put her in the hands of those bastards. I
should have known something was going to happen. I should have listened to her
and allowed her sleep. What if we never find my baby? What kind of a mother am
I Ayomide? I failed, I failed.’ She fixed her gaze on him and kept muttering ‘I
failed’ to herself. ‘You can’t think like that. It’s not your fault. There was
no way you could have known…’ she cut him short before he could say more words
… ‘But, I should have known Ayomide. I should have protected her with
everything I have. Even if we find her, my sweet innocent, full of life baby
might never return to me. She is only ten and her childhood has been snatched
away from her. The innocence of those children has been taken away. So I might
never find Aramide even if she returns to me. Please, please, bring back those
girls. Bring back our girls. They did nothing wrong. If you want to attack
anyone, attack us. Just bring back our girls.’ Her husband went to her side and
held her until she slept off.
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