04/05/2014.

ABUJA, NIGERIA.

"You'll see mercy today insha Allah, Allah will make you meet the good side of everyone" Hajia Amina prayed while knotting Alhaji Umar's blue tie, she dusted the blazers with her slender fingers, "you're good to go" she smiled,

"thank you my beautiful wife, I'll call you as soon as the election is over" he muttered, he placed his hand at the back of her head bringing it forward, he placed a kiss on her forehead, "goodbye" he picked his black suitcase from the round wooden stool close to the sofa before ambulating towards the door. He was about to turn the door knob when a thought crossed his mind, "Amina don't forget Nadia is coming today" he said turning in her direction,

Hajia Amina tore her eyes from the program she was watching on the TV when she heard her husband spoke, "yes I did not forget, I've been expecting her" she smiled,

"okay, bye" he replied shutting the door behind him.

****

Alhaji Umar drove towards the NPP (Nigeria people party) house, today is the primary election in which the candidate who will represent the party in the upcoming Governorship election will be chosen. Alhaji Umar didn't understand why his brother refused to contest even though he had more supporters than him. He tried to convince his brother several times, but he was very Adamant. He still remembered his words vividly,

"Umar I'm not going to contest and that's final, but I'll support you fully I know you'll surely win".

Alhaji Umar was very proud of his brother in everything he did, he loved him so much, and he was very dear to him. Even if he doesn't like the idea of contesting in the election, he did it because his brother asked him to.

Alhaji Umar swerved his car into the party's house. He got down, clad in his black Armani suit, his shoe made a rhythmic sound as it tapped on the interlocked ground. There wasn't much people around yet because he was extra early, he liked following protocols in everything he did. He stood akimbo watching how empty the inside was "these politicians are late comers" he grumbled. He wanted going to the resting villa to seat until the others arrived when he heard muffled voice coming from a room close to where he was standing.

He ambulated towards the direction of the door to check on the people inside. His knuckles stopped midway before colliding with the door to create a knock when he heard the word "modibbo", Alhaji Umar knew eaves dropping was bad, but he wanted to know the gossip that was circulating about him, he was curious to know whether people liked him or not. He pressed ear to the oak wooden door, "Suleiman moddibo" he heard them say again, Alhaji Umar wondered why they were talking about his brother, he pressed his ear further to get more story,

"Suleiman modibbo is the main pillar, as long as he's there, his brother will surely win" a thick voice said,

"from what I'm trying to understand here, if he's cleared out we have a higher chance" Another voice said,

"you're getting it now" the thick voice laughed loudly causing the door to vibrate,

"so, how is that possible, today is the election how?" the other voice asked with confusion evident in his tone,

"you know me na, I'm always one step ahead" the thick voice laughed, "I've already planted a bomb in his house, it will go off by 9 pm today".

Alhaji Umar eyes widened in horror, he closed his mouth with his hand quickly to prevent the loud shriek that was hanging in his throat from coming out,

"shh, shh don't say that loud, walls have ears" the other voice cautioned before releasing a loud throaty laughter, "you're very sharp this man",

"I know already, let's get out of this room before other candidates arrive".

Alhaji Umar quickly left the door covered in sweat. He scrambled out of the place hurriedly towards his car. He placed his head on his steering as he released his frustration, and the scream stucked in his throat. He quickly touched his blazers, bringing his phone out of the pocket on the inside. He dialed his brother's number with a shaky hand as he waited for it to go through,

"The number you're trying to call is unreachable at the moment, please try again later, the number-" Alhaji Umar threw his phone away in frustration not allowing it to repeat the information again. He hit his lower arm on the steering wheel before picking his phone up again, he dialled his sister-in-law's number, but it was unreachable as well. Alhaji Umar wanted to tear his face out of his head at that moment, he felt terrible. He hurriedly picked his car keys from the drawer, he didn't mind going to Kaduna today, he could do anything to keep his brother away from harm. He was about igniting the car when he heard a knock on the tinted glass. Alhaji Umar quickly used the tissue by his side to clean the sweat on his face before rolling the glass down.

"Umar our winner, the next governor" the party's chairman hailed when the glass rolled down completely,

"yes sir" Alhaji Umar faked laughter to make his uneasiness less glaring. The party's chairman brought his neck into Alhaji Umar's car,

"Are you going somewhere Umar?" the party chairman asked looking at the ignition point,

"yes, yes sir, I'll be-be back in the next ten-n mi-minutes" Alhaji Umar stammered, the chairman turned his wicked gaze over to Alhaji Umar, he eyed him slowly with his eyes,

"what do you think you're doing Umar, the election is starting in 20 minutes, and you want to leave now" he said gritting his teeth angrily, "you know you aren't the only one involved in this, I invested tons of money in this, so you'll win, you can't spoil this for me" the chairman said in a low irate tone, "I don't have to remind you how I take my money back from those who are in debt" he smirked evilly, "now you'll get down from that car and come with me inside like the good boy that you're" he said patting Alhaji Umar's head.

Alhaji Umar knew the party's chairman was sinister and very greedy, he can and will do anything to anyone when it comes to Money. He knew if he didn't concur with what he said, he might be endangering his life and that of his family. Alhaji Umar reluctantly removed the key from the ignition, he fixed his phone in his blazer's pocket before rolling the glass up.

"You're sensible" the chairman grinned when Alhaji Umar got out of his car.

****

Alhaji Umar had dialled his brother and sister-in-law's number more than a thousand times, but it still wasn't reachable, he wondered what could have been going on. The Election ended earlier, and counting of votes has begun. He was inclined to winning than any other person because of the amounts of votes he's getting, but that wasn't his worry at the moment. He couldn't wait to be out of the place, it suffocated him being there, almost everyone here was despicable, he knew some are good, but they're very few. Only Allah knows why they wanted his innocent brother down.

"We now declare Umar Modibbo as the new NPP governorship candidate"

Screams filled Alhaji Umar ears as he was announced the winner. He forced a fake smile to appear on his face as he shook his well-wishers. He didn't feel a tinge of happiness in him that he won, he was very neutral, the only form of happiness he felt was because he could finally leave the enclosure and save his brother's life. Alhaji Umar gave a fake excuse that he wanted to use the bathroom, he sneaked through the back corridor to enter the car park. He hurriedly opened the door and speeded out of the compound.

Alhaji Umar drove towards his house, the time was just 5:30 pm. The first thing he was going to do when he got home was to ask his driver to travel to Kaduna, he wanted his driver to inform his brother about the plan some evil doers had towards him, his driver will surely get to Kaduna before 9:00 pm. Alhaji Umar noticed a black jeep has been behind him since he left the party house, but he shrugged it off, thinking they might be going the same way.

Alhaji Umar honked loudly to alert his gateman of his arrival. The gate rolled smoothly over the railing as the gateman pushed it.He hurriedly parked his car and got down, Alhaji Umar heard shouts behind him making him turn, he saw a gun pointed to his gateman's head. Alhaji Umar raised his hands up when the masked gunmen approached his position,

"Umar modibbo the winner" one of the gunmen said walking slowly towards Alhaji Umar's direction. Alhaji Umar took little steps backward as the gunman got nearer "kneel down you scoundrel!" the man bellowed,

Alhaji Umar got on his knees with his hands over his head that was facing the floor, "please don't hurt me, I promise to give you anything you want" Alhaji Umar quavered,

The gunman twirled the gun in his hand, "I don't need anything from you, I just came to present a gift to you" he said crouching down to Alhaji Umar's position, the man signalled one of his members with his hand. "Look up" the gunman roared, causing Alhaji Umar to quickly jerk his head up. The gunman threw a white envelope in Alhaji Umar's direction, "read it carefully" the man said before they ran back to their jeep and zoomed off.

Alhaji stood up from his position, he picked the envelope and ran towards the door panting. Hajia Amina who stood by the door watching everything, quickly opened the door for her husband,

"subhanallah wayyo Allah (ohh my God)" she cried as she hugged her husband tightly, "who are those" she quavered with her lips trembling,

"is everyone at home?" Alhaji Umar asked in a shaky tone, "close the door fast" he instructed, he peeked through the window to check if they were still around, when he was sure they were gone, he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Come here" he held his wife hand as they strode towards the living room.

****

Alhaji Umar explained everything that happened to his wife without leaving anything out, "check the envelope" she trembled as she spoke,

"okay" he said before tearing it open, he found a hand written letter lying inside, he read through the line audibly, so his wife could hear.

Firstly, anytime you feel like eavesdropping on other people's conversation again, always check around for CCTV cameras,

What you've to do isn't much, okay before I continue, let me be the first person to inform you that your brother and his family are all dead.

If you want to avoid ending up like him or worse, keep what you heard a secret. I know about every of your moves, so be careful.

Step down as the governorship candidate or else your family will be slaughtered before your eyes.

"Umar, please do as they say" Hajia Amina got her knees begging him, "please" she cried rubbing her hands together,

"my brother is dead inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun (verily we belong to Allah and to him we return)" Alhaji Umar said in dismay, he couldn't cry, he felt like all his wings has been cut, he felt lonely, his dear brother has left him,

"Nadia is here, won't she put us in more danger if they found out" Hajiya Amina cried,

"Nadia is my daughter from now on, no harm will come to her under my care" He promised.

@zinat Abdulkadir ✍️