THE LAST INSURGENT

Fifteen

Leena had a few seconds to remember her parents, siblings and Adam before she felt herself drowning. The water was cold and dark. She never knew she was going to end up like this.  She had hoped to die and get buried and not under the river and float like an inflated balloon.
The last image that came to her was that of Mufty. She hoped he would come to realise his mistakes and eave that sect.

She began to sink until she was completely submerged. She felt something drifting out of her and she knew she was dying.
Then she felt something else. It was a pull and the next thing was air passing through her nose. Water gnashed out of her mouth and she began to cough.

It was a girl who had grabbed her and pulled her to the surface of the water. She could not identify the person. It was dark, and she was almost out of her senses.
The person helped her to a canoe before she was pulled up.
It was after the person began to compress her chest and pump water out of her she realised that it was Aisha.

Aisha had seen what happened and she immediately jumped in. She lived in a riverine area so she was accustomed to the river and was a very good swimmer.
The man who pushed her into the river laughed.
“Do not try to escape next time.” He said.

They kept paddling, rowing the canoes with the sad girls for over one hour before they arrived at a bank of river and began to stop. They now put on their flashlights, holding their guns and continuously warning the girls to behave well or get shot.
Leena felt better but still shocked. Aisha sat close to her. Both girls were wet and it was cold. Aisha was more used to it but Leena was shivering and felt sick.

“Welcome to Harabul Kusum.” A fat man with very big tommy said. His face was full of beards, and he wore a black turban. A rifle hung on his back and three armed men flanked him. He was waiting for them and he seems very happy to have them. “ Masha Allah. Girls that have been saved from a dirty world and brought into a pure world of Islam. No more taghut insha Allah.”
“Allahu Akhbar!” An insurgent shouted.
“Allahu Akhbar ! Allahu akhbar!” They echoed.

This was sickening to most of the girls. How could they be praising God when they were doing the things God forbade? Where they just delusional or deceiving themselves?
They began to force the girls out of the canoe and ask them to line up for assessment and documentation.
The girls were made to line up.

“What is that?” One of the insurgents observed as he saw a silhouette. He sent a beam on it and they realised that it was one of the girls trying to escape.
The fat man removed his rifle and set it on her.
“Let me catch her Bamba.”
Pauw! Pauw!
He fired two shots and the girl screamed before she dropped.

“No catching.” The fat man, Bamba said with a smile. “The other girls need to know that it is dangerous to try to escape.” He returned his rifle. “You are all going to spend three days here before you are moved to your husband’s houses.” He began to send a beam of light on the girls. He produced halitosis and his breathing sounded like a snore. He was dirty and rough. His hair and beards were unkempt.
He paused when he got to Leena. He spent a few second admiring her before he smiled.
“I like you. Pray I pick you.”

Harabul Kusum was another camp the insurgents had close to Gumbau River. This was a place where captives were held for a day or two before being transported to their destinations . The insurgents preferred female captives and usually killed the men. They slaughter these men in cold blood in presence of their wives and children.

The place was cagey, known only to a few of the insurgents. It was guided by twenty heavily armed men, headed by Bamba. They all had ‘wives’ they picked from the captives.
Now these set of captives were to be transported to a camp between Nigeria and Cameroun. Some of the top men in the sect would come and relax with girls so they could feel more at ease and do