THE VERDICT

TOLU
"Kakkka" is all I heard. I was about opening the second page of the
papers with me while on my daily duty on the federal highway. I turned back, cocked my gun as other cops dodged in the bush.
"Oga! Oh my God!" I shouted. "Wetin happen? Who be that?" Two of my fled colleagues hopped out of the bush. We moved closer to the scene; a thatched roof spot beside the road.
"I didn't do it. Sir, please talk to me. Who has done this? Guys, you
have to believe me I don't know who shot the gun" Sergeant Femi said. The words flowed out of his wide mouth like a dubbed cassette player. He is known as a trigger-loving cop by fellow officers. Who would doubt if he had not pulled the trigger on his superior officer even though there is no bad blood between the pair. The two were the only ones under the thatched spot. Femi's pistol was flaunted in his right hand as the superintendent bled from his massive belly.
"My paper, oga police". The guy whose paper I withheld shouted as

our van was set for an emergency rescue mission.

SUCCESSA
"Guy let's move it quickly, we are running behind schedule" Faji
shouted as he ran out of the bush to rejoin Dele in the car.
They had to deliver the head in the booth before 4pm. It was already 3:15pm and they had one more checkpoint to cross before getting to safety zone.
Thanks to the ingenious plans they made ahead of time. Faji had left the car a short distance before they got to the police check point. He had snuck into the bush behind the shade occupied by two police officers and shot at the one that looked like he commanded more respect. The rest had panicked, forgetting to complete their duty.
"Hahahaha..." Faji couldn't control himself now as he remembered
their short, but comical reaction at the sound of the gunshots.
Dele behind the wheel, catching on immediately, joined in the mirth; as he remembered how he had to act the innocent driver to get the car's particulars back.
"No doubt, they will blame the one with him" Commented Dele
amidst laughter. If they only realized how luck agreed with them at that point; having allowed them play into hands of the infamous trigger happy Sergeant Femi. However, posterity awaited them, not too far away.

AISHA

Dele’s heart was racing as he thought of the heads in his trunk bumping.
He was used to the feeling. It wasn't the first time he was delivering heads, but this time it was more risky. Too much check points, all the crisis in Nigeria was making the job more difficult transporting the goods. The problem was even more now as Faji had shot the commandant.
They parked the car at the bumpy rough road that had a military check point sign ahead. Faji looked around and didn't see anyone. He smiled coldly at the thought of having to shoot another person that same day. Dele took the heads out of the trunk, blood dripped slowly from the sack. Dele led the way. He knew the way like the back of his hand. Faji only brought two heads - that of his mother-in-law and a girl who had turned down his advances online and humiliated him - how silly she was.
Back at the check points the other officers had gathered around Sergent Femi even as police officers were ready to take justice into their own hands at that moment. They dragged him and tied him to the police van.

JILAMS

Sergeant Femi saw his life flashed before his eyes as his fellow officers beat him to within an inch of his life. True, he had gained a reputation for being a trigger-happy sergeant, but he wouldn't dare kill his superior, much less a man he considered a father.
How could he explain it? How can he prove his innocence? He wondered despite the lynching "Will you all stop this nonsense already?” the DPO had been notified of the incident and had quickly made his way to the scene.
"Oga, na him kill inspector", one of the officers replied in pidgin
English.
"He is a suspect and we also need to know his motive for his barbaric act, that is why you should take him to the station and lock him up" the DPO ordered.
Grudgingly, they obliged and Sergeant Femi knew that it was
because they would rather have him dead than wait for all the lengthy bureaucratic process. Well, the inspector was a man who was loved and it seems an injustice to let the perpetrator to live another day.
Femi thought to himself, “I will have to use this extra day to prove my innocence”, he just had to.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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