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BRAVE LOVE Brave Love BY MATTHEW UZUKWU i BRAVE LOVE Dedication For EziAda Anne Nkeonye OnyenehoMaduako. ii BRAVE LOVE Copyright © 2022 by Matthew Uzukwu. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, without written permission from the publisher, except for a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Inquiries should be addressed to: [email protected] or to [email protected] Whatsapp Contact: (+12027467297) Matthew Uzukwu is on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. ISBN: 978-0-9637326-1-3 iii BRAVE LOVE They crept through the bushes quietly to get close to Ahmad and Aisha who were oblivious of the presence of deadly enemies in the forest. They had been confident of being in the clear of danger after several hours on the run and covering several miles. Then shots rang out from nowhere, shattering the stillness of the forest. Ahmad, who walked behind Aisha throughout the trek, dove into her so they would both hit the ground to take cover. The shots missed Ahmad, but Aisha was hit in the left leg. Ahmad returned fire in the direction he thought the shots had come from and hit the assailants. He knew he got them when they moaned from being hit; they had been that close by. Ahmad fired two more rounds, picked up and carried Aisha on his back and ran off. 4 BRAVE LOVE CHAPTER 1 Aisha sat on the dirt forest floor with hundreds of other young women, frightened to no end. Standing over the cowering women were dozens of well armed terrorists who had carried out a major kidnapping at a school hours earlier, and Aisha was among the victims. She thought her chances of surviving the calamity were nil, and the unfortunate and bitter implication of that would be an eternal separation from her beloved family— her parents and two older brothers—and her fiancé, a tall and handsome man named Ahmad. The kidnapping had occurred on a Saturday night, a day before Ahmad was to visit with her at the 5 BRAVE LOVE boarding school where Aisha was in her final year of high school, preparing to sit for her examinations and looking forward to marriage to Ahmad immediately after her graduation from high school. But all of this was now at the back recesses of her mind as she cowered before her kidnappers, her heart racing so fast she felt it would rip out of her chest. The traumatic events of the previous night played in her mind over and over again like a broken record. The terrorists had arrived in several large flat bed trucks and were armed with AK 47 rifles. They had overpowered lightly armed security guards to gain access to the sprawling school compound, where they quickly fanned out to secure two large buildings used as dormitories. The sleeping women, awakened minutes earlier by the sound of gunfire, were captured after the terrorists shot off the doors to the buildings, swarmed inside and ordered the women to the floor. They were then 6 BRAVE LOVE herded out of the compound into the waiting getaway trucks. The terrorists took off, firing wildly into the air to scare their victims and potential rescuers. The daring operation had lasted all of just twenty minutes. The trucks traveled for two hours along an asphalted road before turning onto a lonely dirt road that led to the forest base of the ZOBBO Organization, a home grown movement that had declared a jihad on their sub- Saharan country. The ZOBBO Organization had published its goals and they included the establishment of a theocracy in a country evenly split between Christians and Muslims, the banning of sporting events, and the elimination of cultural manifestations of Western civilization such as rock music, beauty pageants and films. And it intended to achieve these goals through violent means. In the course of several years, the ZOBBO Organization had fought government forces, blew 7 BRAVE LOVE up public buildings and open market places, attacked worshippers in churches and mosques, assassinated public officials, robbed banks to finance its operations, and kidnapped for ransom. The spectacular raid on Aisha’s school was its latest act of infamy in a relentless drive to achieve its utopian goals. The trucks carrying the abducted women kept up a lone bush road deep into the forest. It was still early dawn and there were no military checkpoints on the roads. The getaway had thus been easy for the terrorists. They arrived at a location where the trucks could go no further and the women were ordered to disembark. Birds flew and perched on branches in the intimidating forest of huge trees; squirrels and other little critters scurried around. Aisha had never been inside of a forest before in her 19 years of life on earth. The combination of awe of the forest, the uncertainty of her fate in the hands of her captors, and her 8 BRAVE LOVE sight of the weapons they wielded was overwhelming. She and the rest of the captives hung their heads down and avoided eye contact with the terrorists after their leader, a wiry man who looked anorexic, had commanded them to do so or risked being shot. What Aisha had wished she could do during those moments of tremendous agony was to call Ahmad to apprise him about what had happened, but her cell phone, as were those that belonged to her colleague captives, had been confiscated by the terrorists. Even if she had her phone, there was no chance in hell that she could make the call without being shot. Ahmad would therefore remain oblivious of the life changing event that was happening to her inside the god forsaken forest. Ahmad was actually asleep at the time that the awful kidnapping had taken place. Ahmad lived in a city about four hours away from Aisha’s 9 BRAVE LOVE school. He was an ex soldier and a businessman who owned three restaurants and a large store that sold expensive Persian rug and household furniture. He had met Aisha during a military deployment in Aisha’s hometown, where terrorists had been engaged in sabotage of civilian infrastructure and attacks on military posts. Aisha’s curves, round face and full chest had attracted his attention when she had walked past his checkpoint en route to a nearby local market. He braced himself to talk to her on her way back. About an hour later, as Aisha approached his location a second time, he was ready. “Hello young lady,” he had greeted her. “Hello,” Aisha greeted back. “I have never seen a girl as beautiful as you are in all my life,” he said to her, trying to charm his way into her heart. Aisha smiled, but kept on walking. By her culture, it would have been considered immodest 10 BRAVE LOVE for her to have stopped to chat with a total male stranger. Ahmad, brought up in this culture as well, understood her demurring and ignoring of his bold move on her. But he resolved not to be discouraged from pursuing her. At twenty five years old, and a sergeant in the military, he had been thinking about marriage. His father had also been putting pressure on him lately to do it. Ahmad’s dad died six months after his first encounter with Aisha. He had died suddenly and Ahmad was compelled to truncate his military career to take control of his father’s businesses, but before the tragedy, Ahmad did have additional encounters with Aisha at that military checkpoint and he had warmed his way into her heart. After snubbing him a few more times, she had surprised him one day when she stopped to chat with him. She had been impressed with his persistence and thought he could be a serious suitor. She was in her senior year of high school and was culturally 11 BRAVE LOVE ripe for marriage. He proposed to her and she had accepted on the condition that he allowed her to finish her final year of secondary school education. Ahmad lazily got out of bed and went into the bathroom to brush and take a bath. As was his habit, he switched on the television in the living room then kept the door to the bathroom ajar so he could listen to the news while he bathed. He was a few minutes into his bathing when the news anchor alerted her viewers to breaking news, and it was about a daring kidnapping of hundreds of secondary school girls by terrorists. Ahmad turned off the shower for a moment so he could clearly hear the words of the news anchor. Having once served in the military, he had a keen interest in security issues, but nothing prepared him for the jolt he felt when the news anchor provided details of the kidnapping: that it had occurred at the secondary school Aisha attended, and that deadly terrorists had carried out the crime. 12 BRAVE LOVE Ahmad towered up immediately without washing off the soap suds on his body and scooted into the living room to stand directly in front of the television. The news anchor now had a national security analyst on the phone for his perspective on what had just occurred. Ahmad reached out for his phone on the center table. He tapped on Aisha’s number and it rang several times without a response from the other end. He tapped on it again and again with the same outcome—no response from Aisha. At that moment Ahmad assumed the worst. Ahmad’s imagination of awful things being meted out to Aisha and the rest of the abducted unfortunate souls actually played out in real time in the bowels of a forest several hours away. When the news anchor had interrupted regular programming with news of the abductions, the women were at that moment being marched deep into the forest to a hidden and well fortified camp 13 BRAVE LOVE of the terrorists. A large plastic bag held the two hundred phones seized from the women. The phones rang repeatedly presumably from the concerned families of the women. Aisha figured her phone was among the ringing phones, as she suspected that her relatives and fiancé, informed about the catastrophe that had befallen her, were seeking to reach her. The trek had been going on for about an hour and some of the women began to tire, making them to walk slowly to demonstrate that fact. But the terrorists were in no mood to permit their captives a rest. They operated on a clock and appeared determined to get to their camp by a certain time only known to them. They barked at the women to walk quicker. Tijani, the leader of the terrorists, wore a pair of jeans and a soiled green shirt. A bandana was tied around his small head and he wore a face mask. He slung an Ak47 rifle and constantly gave directions to his men in the course of the march, 14 BRAVE LOVE telling them the paths in the forest to avoid, and ordering them to mute all the phones in the bag after he became concerned about the signals betraying their location in the forest. The camp came into view after two hours of trekking in the foreboding forest. It was now full daylight and the sun, a big yellowish ball in the sky, was up in the east. Suddenly, the noise of a war plane streaking through the skies on a bombing run was heard, and Tijani barked orders for everyone to duck behind the trees on both sides of the footpath. There they remained for about an hour before resuming the trek. Aisha and the rest of the captives were not only worried about their fate at the hands of the terrorists, but they were also concerned about being collateral casualties in the war between the national authorities and the terrorists. The bombing which had just occurred portended a dangerous future, and Aisha was so traumatized and hopeless that 15 BRAVE LOVE she contemplated suicide. The first chance she got to be alone in captivity, she decided she was going to take her own life. She thought about her family and Ahmad. She would miss them, particularly Ahmad, whom she looked forward to marrying and starting up a family with, but the foreboding existence that stared her in the face as she walked on tired feet to continual barking by the terrorists was most certainly likely to be Kafkaesque and grossly intolerable. A life with her sweetheart now seemed a long shot from being realized. Ahmad had visited with her two weeks before the kidnapping. They talked on the phone practically every day, and he paid her biweekly visits at the school. During his last visit, he had treated her to a nice dinner at a trendy restaurant. They dined on lamb, rice, stew and ice cream, and had talked about their future together as a married couple. He planned to grow the business he had inherited from his father. She 16 BRAVE LOVE would enroll in the university, and he would support her financially. They would move to Dubai at some point and raise a family there. The business back home would remain, but he would open a new business in Dubai. The future looked bright for Aisha until the unspeakable tragedy that had occurred to her. The country seemed to be awash in crime and the terror activities of the ZOBBO Organization. Many citizens were victims of kidnapping for ransom and sundry criminalities, but nothing on the scale of the mass abductions at the secondary school had ever happened before in the country. Aisha went in and out of suicidal thoughts. She came out of them only when her inner strength willed her to keep her hopes high, perchance the incident would stoke international outrage and spur military action to rescue the captives. Such an operation had risks and the captives could be killed in crossfire. This possibility often cancelled 17 BRAVE LOVE out her hopes as she drifted in and out of suicidal thoughts. Aisha was a mental and psychological wreck by the time the captives reached the camp. 18 BRAVE LOVE CHAPTER 2 Camp Thawra, the Arabic word for revolution, was the main base of the ZOBBO Organization. It was a sprawling piece of real estate consisting of a bunch of buildings of both rectangular cinder block types and mud brick huts. There was a mosque, a court house, arms storage depots, a clinic, and residential huts. A clearing about a mile or so away was the weapons training ground. The ZOBBO Organization typically enslaved captured women, and married them off to its fighters. This was the certain fate of Aisha and her colleagues as they became the newest slave women in the camp. A speech by Sharif, the Chief Commander of the organization, to the newly enslaved was a 19 BRAVE LOVE routine activity. Aisha and her colleagues were marched to a parade ground and ordered to sit on the bare earth. As they did this, a rumble of fighter jets was heard in the distance. The place was clearly unsafe in the open, and Aisha shook with fear. She observed several ZOBBO fighters on the fringes of the camp pointing heavy guns towards the sky. She saw Sharif emerge from a nearby house accompanied by several armed fighters, and they walked towards the women. His authoritarian bearing and all the big guns his party wielded as it approached further alarmed the women, who thought something more sinisterly than they had endured was about to happen to them. Sharif’s guards deployed in a semi circle shape, as he now stood in front of the women and cast a menacing sweeping look from his left to his right a number of times. “Welcome to the pious camp Thawra of 20 BRAVE LOVE ZOBBO,” he said to the women in a baritone. “...A place from where we are waging jihad against the enemies of God, against corrupt politicians, and against every form of decadent Western influence that has corrupted our society. We are saying no to such things like football, singing, dancing and science which have all messed up our society. Today, you are members of ZOBBO by force. You will live by ZOBBO rules, and we will marry many of you to our fighters so you will give birth to the next generation of believers in the ZOBBO ideology.” Some among the women wept during the speech. They interpreted Sharif’s words to mean they would never see their families again. Others, though having a premonition of being made to live through the kinds of things Sharif mentioned in his speech, still had a sliver of hope that their captivity would come to an end in some fashion. Aisha’s suicidal thoughts, occasionally mellowed 21 BRAVE LOVE by instinctual optimism about something happening to reverse the situation, even though she wasn’t sure how, got worse as she listened to Sharif. “…None of you should ever attempt to escape because the punishment if you are caught is immediate execution,” warned Sharif, ominously. Sharif conferred with his senior commanders after which he returned to his house. The women were ordered to get up and were led to another section of the camp where they were forcibly paired with ZOBBO fighters as wives. Aisha was paired with a man named Omar, who was a mid level commander of ZOBBO. Omar was not among the raiders of Aisha’s secondary school and so she was setting eyes on him for the first time. Omar was dark skinned and heavily bearded. He had piercing eyes and a perpetual frown on his thin face. He cut the figure of a tough fighter who had been in many of ZOBBO’s skirmishes with the 22 BRAVE LOVE military. An armed young man tapped Omar on his right shoulder and pointed out Aisha from the women. Omar stepped forward to claim his “prize.” He asked Aisha to follow him, but she refused. The armed man pointed his rifle at her, but she remained planted where she was in defiance, daring him to shoot. The man scolded her sternly, instead, and pushed her toward Omar who grabbed and pulled her along with him. She resisted, but Omar’s superior strength enabled him to pull her along for several minutes until they reached the hut he lived in. Just before pulling her inside, he slapped her several times to weaken her resistance. Inside the hut now, he pushed her down and berated her for her resistance. “It’s no use resisting,” he told her. “You have been given to me as my wife, and you had better behave or you will regret every single day of your 23 BRAVE LOVE foolish resistance. There is no escape for you. You had better comply with the rules here or I will make your life hell in this camp.” Aisha sobbed as the harangue came down on her like a ton of bricks. At that moment, thoughts of Ahmad flashed through her mind. She wished he was there to save her from the brute who was now her “husband” by compulsion. *** A week after Aisha’s abduction, Ahmad had sat in his living room in total distress about what had happened to his fiancé. ZOBBO had put out a press release during the week claiming responsibility for the kidnappings, and vowed to kill their captives if any attempt was made by the authorities to launch a rescue attempt. They wanted no ransom payment from the government. Their demand was for the government to declare 24 BRAVE LOVE the secular country an Islamic state and begin the total enforcement of Sharia law throughout the Muslim half of the country as a prelude to national Islamic law implementation. Ahmad knew there was no way the government would agree to those demands in the multi ethnic and multi religious country without a monumental implosion of the country. The Christian half of the country would never accept the jurisdiction of Islamic law, and people who professed traditional religion and worshiped various gods would also fight for their religious freedom. If ZOBBO would accept ransom payments, Ahmad was willing to pay to free Aisha, but ZOBBO had slammed that option shut in its press statement. The country must be officially declared an Islamic State or nothing. The government could seek a negotiated settlement of the issues, but it had vowed never to negotiate with the ZOBBO Organization which the government condemned as purveyors of an 25 BRAVE LOVE ideology of death unknown to the noble and peaceful Islamic religion. The ZOBBO organization, the government claimed further, gave the religion a bad name by espousing intolerance and engaging in murderous activities. It vowed to crush the organization and it had the backing of mainstream Islamic leaders and scholars to do so. The situation, from Ahmad’s perspective, was akin to being in a cul de sac with nowhere else to go. His sweetheart was caught up in the middle of an epic struggle of national, even global, implications and this was not fair. There was the need to think out of the box to get Aisha out of captivity. Ahmad was as tough as nails. He was an ex soldier. He was also still a young man who could endure physical stress. He could also afford to take huge risks because he was yet to raise a family that would miss him were he to lose his life in a risky operation. The most he would lose, were he to die, would be his businesses, but they were 26 BRAVE LOVE vain and ethereal things that weren’t a big deal. Just as the terrorists had been daring in the operation that abducted his fiancé, he decided to match their daredevilry in her rescue, and he came up with a bold and highly risky plan to do that. First, he would join the group and become a fighter, but a fake one, then he would take advantage of his penetration of the group to reverse-kidnap Aisha from them and figuratively get out of dodge. Ahmad had appointed his younger brother Ibrahim as his deputy upon Ahmad’s ascension as head of the family business their father had built. Ibrahim had actually been their dad’s study after Ahmad elected to serve in the military. Ibrahim was thus thoroughly knowledgeable about the business. Ahmad, being the eldest son of their father, had by custom and tradition inherited the business upon their father’s death. Ahmad sat with Ibrahim one night in his living room, where he told 27 BRAVE LOVE him what he wanted to do. “I am going to join ZOBBO so I can get my fiancé back,” he told Ibrahim. Ibrahim was shocked to hear that. “What do you mean?” he asked Ahmad. “The only way to get Aisha back is to find my way into ZOBBO. I will do whatever they want me to do short of killing anyone so I can one day get Aisha out of their camp.” “How are you going to do it?” asked Ibrahim, who opined further before Ahmad could answer. “It is highly risky. ZOBBO could kill you in the process of freeing Aisha. You could be killed in a government operation against ZOBBO, should you be in the area of engagement. I think you shouldn’t do it, Ahmad. Find another woman. There are plenty of women around.” “Ibrahim, you do not understand. I love Aisha with all my heart. I have never loved a woman the way I love Aisha. I am prepared to die to get her 28 BRAVE LOVE out of captivity. My heart hurts everyday she is in that place.” Ibrahim tried through a couple of hours of discussion to dissuade his brother from what he planned to do, but Ahmad’s mind was already made up. “I will pray for you,” said Ibrahim in resignation. “Thank you! I will be leaving by next week to join the group. You are in overall charge of the business in my absence. I do not know how long I will be gone for, but I intend to come back alive and successful in my mission.” Ibrahim left for home after the highly emotional meeting with Ahmad. As he drove home through deserted streets, as it was a Sunday night when most people were in their homes preparing for the next work day, he felt mightily concerned for his brother. He had a sinking premonition that Ahmad won’t survive the highly risky mission. 29 BRAVE LOVE Ibrahim knew his brother to be tough and stubborn. He recalled that their late father had tried to discourage him from joining the military, but Ahmad insisted on being a soldier. Their father had also wanted Ahmad to get married when he had turned 20, and had in fact arranged for Ahmad to marry the daughter of a friend, but Ahmad rejected the arrangement, insisting on marrying a person of his choice. Their father had been elated a few months before his death when Ahmad had brought Aisha along to introduce her as his fiancé. Their father had planned to splurge on their wedding day, but he was felled by a heart attack which killed him. Ahmad, worried about the impact of the shock of Aisha’s kidnapping on the mental state of his would be in-laws, called them several times during the week to cheer them up and to pray together with them for Aisha’s safe return. Yusuf, Aisha’s father, was a retired police officer who farmed 30 BRAVE LOVE corn, yams and cassava in his retirement to supplement his retirement income. Aisha was the youngest of Yusuf’s three children with his wife Zainab, a brown skinned woman who doted on her children, and was present in their lives in several ways. Aisha’s older siblings who were male were made to endure parental intrusions in their lives by Zainab, who did not want her sons involved in vices or sexual promiscuity. Aisha was the closest of the children to Zainab by virtue of her being the only female child. They spoke daily—Aisha calling from school or Zainab from home. Zainab was devastated when she heard about the kidnappings on the news and learned that her daughter was among the victims. She locked herself in her room and cried the whole day. She lost her appetite in the ensuing days and became ill from extreme stress. Her husband was nursing her one day when he heard a knock on the living room door. He left her momentarily to find out who the visitor 31 BRAVE LOVE was. He looked through the peephole in the door to discover it was Ahmad. He hadn’t called to inform them of his coming. He just showed up at the door. Yusuf opened the door to let him in. Hello Ahmad. It’s a surprise to see you.” “Yes, I know it’s an impromptu visit,” said Ahmad. Yusuf led the way into the living room. Yusuf served Ahmad a soft drink and they sat down to talk. “I hope all is well,” said Yusuf. “How can all be well when our Aisha is in the den of kidnappers,” said Ahmad. “I know,” said Yusuf. “It’s a terrible situation.” “How is Mama Zainab doing?” “Well, she is managing the situation the best she can. She has not been eating, and she is sick from stress. It’s very difficult for her.” “Hopefully, it won’t be too long before she starts to feel better again because of what I have 32 BRAVE LOVE decided to do to bring Aisha back.” Yusuf, curious to learn more of what Ahmad had just stated, asked for details. Ahmad then proceeded to describe what his plans were and how he intended to execute them. Yusuf was speechless for several moments. It was an audacious plan. Being a former police officer, he could relate to it, but he also thought it was enormously risky. He sure wanted his daughter back, and no risk could be considered too high to accomplish it, from his own selfish perspective. If his prospective son-in-law was committed to carrying out that kind of rescue, he would not discourage him from pursuing it. It was Ahmad’s total love for Aisha that propelled him to commit to the rescue, he thought. He was appreciative of Ahmad and prayed for him. “May the Almighty God see you through this mission! May He confuse the enemy and guide you aright in achieving all the objectives to secure 33 BRAVE LOVE Aisha’s release. When both of you are back with us to the glory of Almighty God, may He bless you and Aisha abundantly with children and material wealth. Amen.” Ahmad briefly visited with Zainab in her room, where she was laid up in bed, her face wet with anguished tears. “Mama, cry no more,” he said to her. “I promise to bring Aisha back. I give you my word on that. The mission I am going on is already blessed. Failure is therefore not in the cards.” 34 BRAVE LOVE CHAPTER 3 Ahmad’s journey into the ranks of the ZOBBO terrorist group began on a day it had rained heavily and the roads were flooded. He had planned to catch an interstate bus for the four hour ride to the section of the country where ZOBBO was known to recruit. The heavy rain was illustrative of a good omen, if he believed what a good friend of his from another ethnic group had once told him about the omen of heavy rains before one embarked upon an important journey— that the rains represented a cleansing act by the heavens which guaranteed success of whatever one had planned to do in their journey. But Ahmad, being a Muslim, thought this was pagan 35 BRAVE LOVE belief and he was amused by it when his friend had told him about it. On this rainy morning, as he embarked on his dangerous journey, he tampered his scorn of this pagan belief and became ambivalent about it, hoping it portended a good omen. The rains had delayed the departure of the bus by three hours. When the flood waters had receded, the bus finally took off, headed for ZOBBO territory. The passengers were either disembarking along the way or were traveling deep into ZOBBO territory which was the last stop of the bus. The ZOBBO recruiting area was a vast area where business transactions still took place in spite of occasional ZOBBO violence. Every passenger in the bus could be placed in either of the above categories except for one man, whose mission was a one way ticket to hell or a return ticket with a precious human cargo. The territory consisted of small villages and towns. It had been 36 BRAVE LOVE a thriving place for business until ZOBBO activities had begun several years back in its relentless pursuit of a utopian religious state. There were mosques in the territory suspected to be ZOBBO’s locations for surreptitious recruitment of fighters, followers and suicide bombers. Ahmad’s planned first stop in the territory was at a mosque. The bus dropped him off at a bus stop nearby the mosque by late evening. Ahmad’s research had showed that this mosque was one of ZOBBO’s recruiting locations. Ahmad had a backpack containing his clothes, male hygiene materials, snacks and Islamic holy books. He walked leisurely to the mosque where the call to the evening prayers was ongoing on the mosque’s loudspeakers. He walked into the mosque and joined several men who had arrived earlier. Groups had formed and they engaged in conversation before prayers started. Ahmad eavesdropped as he walked around. There was a 37 BRAVE LOVE particular group of heavily bearded men that attracted his attention. As he figured heavily bearded Muslim men were pious and fundamentalist, he followed his hunch to join the group. “A salam a le kum”, he greeted in the time honored Arabic language Muslim greeting. The men returned the greeting. Their body language suggested that he was welcome in the group. The group belonged to a mosque committee that was raising funds to renovate and expand the mosque. Ahmad was thus lost in the discussion. He was compelled to listen without saying anything until one of the group members, who suspected Ahmad to be a new worshipper at the mosque, asked him about it to confirm his suspicion. “Yes, I am,” he answered. “You are welcome,” said the man. “Are you from here?” 38 BRAVE LOVE “No, but I intend to set up a business here and make this town my residence.” “That’s good. You will like this town.” The imam soon started up the prayer proceedings. All had moved to the colorful carpeting on the floor for the prayer, which lasted for about thirty minutes. Ahmad approached the imam at the close of the prayer and requested a private meeting. The imam obliged and took him into a room. Ahmad introduced himself as a businessman and he asked the imam for directions on how he could find accommodation in the town. He also asked whether the imam knew of a purist Islamic group around he could join to brush up on his knowledge of the holy books in order to deepen his faith. Imam Suleiman had led the mosque for several years. He was an Islamic scholar who was very knowledgeable about national and international politics. He was known to lace his 39 BRAVE LOVE orations with social and political criticisms, depending on whatever issue irked him that he felt was unjust to the common people. When ZOBBO started its insurgency, Imam Suleiman was suspected to have been a sympathizer and this earned him a visit a couple of times from the secret police. But he was innocent and was never charged with a crime. He was however warned to tone down his rhetoric. ZOBBO operatives took notice of his fearless stance on hot button issues and tried to recruit him, but he demurred. Although, ZOBBO operatives failed to recruit Imam Suleiman, but they had access to his radicalized flock which ZOBBO poached in recruitment drives. Imam Suleiman had also set up a purist study society for deeper study and research of the holy books. Ahmad had been informed about this society by an erstwhile colleague in the army whose radicalized cousin had been recruited into ZOBBO from the mosque. 40