Anguish of the past

Tomorrow, 17th of February. The day I have been waiting and anticipating all my life. It’s just a day away from when I will get married to my age long heart rob, Halimat.

Halimat and I had been friends from the university days and as fate will have it, we were both posted to Zaria for the compulsory national youth service scheme. Our love grew more than I could imagine and within six months into our service, I proposed to her . Ever since that day, we’ve been inseparable. After our youth service I informed my father, a well-known business tycoon in Katsina, Alhaji Umaru about my intentions to get married to Halimat. And within months, a date was fixed and lo and behold, it was just a day away.

Halimat and I were on our way coming back from the wedding planner when our car suddenly stopped.

Musa, what happened? I asked the driver who was shivering

When I felt hinted to look up to see seven guys with heavy guns/rifles in front of our car.

Allah! I exclaimed. Halimat held on to me amidst fears as my eyes became turgid with tears. I had faced lots of danger in my life but not with seven hefty men with guns on them.

Come down! One of them ordered

Slowly we alighted the back seat of the car with Halimat clinging to me

Look at this man! Who did you think you are? Another said; coming close to me, he gave me a resounding slap that swayed me off my balance.

Halimat screamed and ran close to me, holding me dearly to her while the men with guns were watching the show of affections displayed by the two lovers who are just 24 hours away from sealing their long awaited love.

So you still have a guts to hold on to your woman? A Guy which i presumed to be their leader said, fuming with anger.

Akeem, bring that woman here. He commanded

The so called Akeem came close to me and dragged my Halimat away.

Their leader handed his gun over to his assistant then held Halimat forcefully and pushed her away to the ground.

Please don’t hurt her! She is my wife. I cried out loudly

Their leader smiled and turned to me, holding his gun again and before I could say anything, he hit my head with the butt of his gun. I felt my whole head exploding but surprised I was still breathing with my eyes growing dim.

All I could perceive was Halimot who was crying and wailing. I felt something trickling down from my head only to discover was blood. I managed to stand up again only to see Halimat struggling to escape getting laid.

Please don’t do this. I managed to cry again.

Two guys held her hands, another held her legs while one was on top of her. I gasped for breathe. Halimat’s effort was futile. I had the urge to get up and fight for my woman but one of them had his gun placed right on my head. Something Halimat and I had kept securely and safe for our wedding night which was less than 24 hours was about to be snatched by this gunmen. Seeing her bled was a sign. Her virginity was gone!

My heart ripped opened in pain and anguish. An unattainable energy emanated into me from nowhere trying to save my Halimat only to hear the sound of a gun been shot, then i fell and passed out.

Two months later…

 I regained my memory and everything that had happened became retroactive in my brain again.

I was in Coma for 23 days. I had to be flown abroad for an immediate operation because according to the Doctor, the bullet was just some inches away from affecting my spinal cord and if an immediate medical attention was not given, I might not be able to walk again.

Musa, my driver had been beaten to a pulp but was still able to take me and the unconscious Halimat to the hospital.

That was 4 years ago…

The operation was successful; thanks to Allah, I was able to walk again. The last time I checked back with Halimat, Alhaji told me she hasn’t fully recovered since then and had been at the psychiatric hospital.

R*pe is one of the consequences lurking behind corruption and political decadence of any country. It may seem irrelevant but true. Unemployment, on the account of our government not putting the interest of the people over their love for personal gains is a thriving factor now in Nigeria and responsible by ripple effect to other national unrest. Swift corrective measure must be taken by virtue of legislative reinforcement and institution reform.

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