LIFE IMPRISONMENT 16
WRITTEN BY: GRACE OLAYEMI
Mr Emmanuel was in tears as he saw the news of the death of those 50 children. They were already so close to cracking the location of the IP address Danger used in uploading the video when the power failed and they had to put on the generator. By the time they did, the tech guys helping them with the hacking had to start from scratch again and that took a lot of time. They went home when they were tired with the hope of continuing the next day before Danger would carry out his threat. Mr Emmanuel felt uneasiness in his spirit when he dismissed them that day but he was too tired to even enquire what it was. He went home and slept peacefully after eating a deliciously prepared dinner by his wife.
Things went from bad to worse as the citizens were not slowing down in expressing their agitations. By the time the second police station was burnt down, he knew Danger had to be caught as soon as possible or the whole city would burn down. He became aggressive in his approach and he reported the presence of the mole in the Force immediately.
Mr Dare who had been working directly with Danger for over five years and had served as the information merchant for Danger and his gang all through those years was brought to book. He was flabbergasted when the SP summoned him to his office, and he did a good job denying the allegations. But, when he saw that whatever evidence the SP had against him was strong enough to send him to jail for the rest of his life, he admitted to his crimes and pleaded for mercy.
“Mr Dare, this is an uttermost disappointment,” the SP said while shaking his head sadly.
“You have been in this city for long and had witnessed the numerous atrocities committed by this evil group and instead of staying true to your oath as a police man, you decided to join affinity with the enemies of this nation to torment the land.”
“Are you aware of the number of lives that had been claimed by these guys? Do you know the number of families that have been displaced from their homes due to the unpardonable evil done by these people?”
“How do you sleep every night with this great burden? Or don’t you even have a conscience at all?”
“You are a disgrace to the entire police Force and to humanity at large.”
“Mr Dare, you are an accomplice to all the crimes that have been committed by these group for all these years and you will be punished according to the law,” Mr Emmanuel said.
“I’m so sorry sir. It was a mistake. I didn’t intend to get myself involved with them. I found myself in it and it was too late to get out.”
“A mistake? You must be stupid for that,” the DSP said angrily as he gave Mr Dare a resounding slap.
“No need for that DSP, let him save his defense for the court. For now, you have the right to get yourself a lawyer and if I may advise, you would need a really good one to lessen your sentence. But, before then, you will answer every question we ask you about Danger and his gang honestly with everything you know. Is that clear?”
“Yes sir!”
Mr Dare was taken into custody immediately and all his assets were confiscated by the government. He was questioned intently. He claimed not to have seen Danger or any of his gang members before. He said, he received a call from a strange number few years back and they threatened to kill his wife whom they had kidnapped, if he did not cooperate with them. He had to save his wife and unborn child and that was how he became their informant. He was always paid through internet transfer and had never met them physically before.
The details of the account where Dare received payment from Danger was gotten and the registered owner of the account was an old man in a village that didn’t even know how to speak English.
The man was surprised that he had an account and he told the police that he had never used the bank before in his life. Even his son that wanted to open an account for him so he could send money home easily had not been able to convince him to agree to the arrangement. He preferred his son to send the money to the village headmaster who would in turn withdraw it and bring the cash to him.
The police assumed Danger must be the man’s son and when they enquired further they found out that the man’s son was away in Saudi Arabia and they knew there was no possibility of him being Danger.
The police were disappointed at the information and wondered how it was possible to operate an account with another person’s identity. The balance of the account was checked and it contained enough money to feed a whole nation for five years. The bank officials were queried as to how a customer would have such amount of money and they would not have seen him/her come to the bank before. The account was immediately frozen and they promised a future investigation of other similar accounts to curb crime and corruption in the nation.
* * * * * *
Mr Emmanuel had thought that once they got all the information from the mole, tracking Danger would be easier but the information they got did not help them in any way. He thought they were close to cracking the case but it had become like a bulb of onion that with every layer removed, a fresh one lies underneath.
He took a break from work after several days of being away and went home to spend time with his wife and children.
His wife and children were obviously happy to see him and they chatter away into the night as they gave him gist of the things he had missed in their lives. He smiled to himself and thanked God for giving him such a lovely family he could go back to after a tedious day at work. He allowed himself to enjoy the company of his family and forgot the trouble of finding Danger that had plagued him at work.
The children retired to bed and he was left alone with his wife. She enquired about the case and he poured out everything to her. She listened intently and also felt his pain when she discovered that all their efforts to catch Danger had proved abortive. She had been praying fervently that the hands of the law would catch up with Danger and the other bad guys terrorizing the city so her husband could be free to come to the house like he used to do when there was no serious case to handle.
“We need divine intervention in catching this criminals,” she said after a brief silence and her husband couldn’t agree more.
Since everything they knew how to do had failed and all the codes and laws of catching a criminal they had been taught had been used and Danger was still at large, he knew beyond any iota of doubt that it was God that would place Danger in their hands. The revelation he had the last time had helped to point out the mole in the force but that was all they could get from it. Danger was still walking around freely.
“The craftiness of these criminals cannot match the wisdom of our God. As long as they are hiding on this earth then they cannot hide from God. Even if they are hiding under the earth or in the sea, God’s eyes is everywhere and we are going to catch them by God’s grace.”
“We will pray that God should place these criminals in your hands. God should lead you to where they are and with the greatest ease ever recorded in catching a notorious criminal, you will catch them and none shall escape,” she said authoritatively, jumped to her feet and began to pray aggressively.
Her husband looked at her amazed and for about five minutes into the prayer he was busy thanking God for giving him such a wife. He didn’t know what he would have done without her. He owed all his success to her support, prayer, understanding, encouragement and great faith.
He joined her in the prayer and prayed intently that God should open his eyes to see where Danger was hiding. He prayed that God should release Danger to them in a way that would glorify HIS name alone. He prayed and prayed till he had a strong wave of peace hush down his heart and he knew without any doubt that their prayers had been heard and answered.
To be continued…
