LIFE IMPRISONMENT 15
WRITTEN BY: GRACE OLAYEMI
Mourning began in earnest when the bodies of the children were discovered. They were brought to the gate of the governor’s residential building and laid on the floor one by one. They were identified as the children that were abducted by Danger and everyone present at the scene assumed various postures. Some cried, some cursed, some threw tantrums while others began to say various things as the crowd increased.
Members of the press began to come one after the other to record the pitiable sight. The news was live on almost every station and bloggers also had something to say about it.
“Why should things like these continue to happen in this State?”
“This is the height of it. We have had enough of being treated like animals.”
“We demand justice for these children and other people that had been killed by Danger.”
“These children are the future of this city and this country but they have been murdered in cold blood and the government had the power to do something about it but they chose not to.”
“These killings must stop!”
Some zealous youths began to shout and protest and call out the government to do something about the mess on ground or they would take laws into their own hands.
The Governor was perplexed as he got a wind of the news and wondered what went wrong with the plan the CP said was in place. He summoned him and the latter explained all they did in order to rescue the children before the end of the ultimatum Danger gave. They never knew he would carry out his threat. They had thought that he would send for the parents of those children to pay the ransom and that would have given them enough time to crack the location of the IP address used in uploading the video.
They brainstormed on what they could do to console the parents of those children and pacify the citizens. They agreed to give a consolation prize to the parents and put their remaining children on scholarship to higher institution level. The government would also take on the mass burial of those children.
When the decision was announced, the whole city was thrown into an uproar as the people reacted differently to the gesture.
“Yes, give them money! That’s the price for the death of their children.”
“They want to sponsor the remaining children of those families to their higher institution level. What if the family had only one child that had been killed? What would they do?”
“Let’s even say we believe the claim of the government that they didn’t give in to the demands of the kidnappers because they were trying to arrest the criminals and save the children; why can’t they pretend to agree with the terms of the kidnappers, take the ransom to the meeting point and then surround the place and catch them.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to harm the children.”
“Haven’t they harmed the children now?”
“50 children! The future of this dear nation, murdered in cold blood due to the negligence of the fathers that had sworn an oath when they were taking public offices that they would protect them.”
“If they have been able to catch those criminals, we won’t be this sad because we know that there won’t be a future re-occurrence. But with the way criminals keep getting away with crime, I bet the rate of crime is going to skyrocket and the lives of everyone would be in jeopardy.”
Various comments began to roll in from people that were embittered and sorrowful about the death of those innocent children and how the government handled the situation.
Riot and pandemonium began in earnest after the Governor’s speech as the citizens were not pleased with the way things turned out. They believed that if the government had been proactive enough, they would have been able to save those children from the evil hands of Danger.
The major roads in the city were blocked by the youths and young adults and they marched en mass to the government house while others stayed back at various roads and intersections in the city.
The government tried everything in their power to pacify the youths with a promise that Danger would be caught and made to face the wrath of the law but they refused to be pacified and they intensified their protests.
After two police stations were burnt down in the city, the President of the country declared a state of emergency to remedy the situation. They used force to make the violence and vandalism that was rising up from the protest stop and were able to force the youths out of the street. Curfew was declared in the state and international bodies began to gain interest in the matter and they all sent in their assistance in every way they could.
To be continued…
