Chapter 14: Chapter 14
Surprisingly, contrary to the plans and expectations of Selena and Amanda, Solomon was the one that got arrested at the airport. This mearnt the flight wasn't feasible. Also, it mearnt Bimbo's dreams and hype of seeing 'Paradise' was shattered. This made her feel disappointed and heartbroken. However, that didn't cause as much stigma as it did knowing innocent Solomon was locked up in prison.
She was left with no other option but to take to her heels after sighting Solomon from a distance being interrogated, handcuffed and taken to custody by some officials in uniform at the check-up point. Being wise, she quickly figured out that contraband had been detected by the detection dogs that sniffed the parcel. She silently vanished into thin air to avoid being chased after she heard Solomon screaming out his innocence in tears when some wraps of hard drugs were pulled out. She sneaked away.
"Nooo.. please it doesn't belong to me!!" He stammered in shock. "It belongs to a lady that came with me. She just left in some minutes to use the convenience. She'd be back soon. Please officers.. please". His hands on his head, hot tears rolled down his cheeks.
"This lady has put me in trouble. This is implication in its peak. I'm done for," He was soon bundled into an airport security van and in no time, Jail!
* * * *
Solomon tightly held the iron bars of the putrid God-forsaken dark cell he was locked up in. He was uncomfortable with the stench in it, being less ventilated. Shirtless, he sweated profusely and wept like an abandoned baby. He had spent three days in the dark awaiting trial with no food, no light, no companionship, no Selena, not even Bimbo.
"God forbid, that bimbo!" He angrily said after the thought of missing Bimbo crossed his mind. "not the girl that kept me in this mess. If I set my eyes on her, I will strangle her, cut her into pieces, feed her to my mongrels, poison them, cremate them and throw the ashes into an ocean," he fumed.
He continued to amble directionlessly and indolently from a corner to another. He bit his finger in regret and cursed the day he met her. He had an assumption that she had deliberately set him up by giving him the item that got him into trouble. He got even angrier when he remembered he was the one that requested for it which after, she was nowhere to be found.
"Somebody there help me. I need water. I'm hungry. I'm innocent and I didn't sneak in any hard drugs okay? Please," he yelled into the empty rows of cells adjacent to his.
"At least spare me my right to fair hearing!!" He screamed out.
He was soon attended to by three fearsome policemen that inflicted trauma on him. He was given a round of thorough beating and pummeling that he had never received in his entire life. The fiercest of the men in black had a scar on his ugly terrifying face. A face that would make you try to figure out if he was human or a chimpanzee. He was also tall, muscular and buff.
He forcefully held Solomon's jaw as his face blazed with anger. "I do what I want to do because I am the law," he said, driving a heavy fist into Solomon's nose, sending him spiraling to the ground.
"I'm officer Kondo and no man wakes me from my sleep. No one dares me!" He growled from behind teeth, clenched tight as spittle dropped from his lips and his eyes glowed with rage.
His steel-like boot came pounding into Solomon's ribs, forcing pained yelps from him.
His baton came swinging too, hitting Solomon with reckless abandon, hard on any spot it chose to land.
He sat, pinning Solomon's neck to the ground, then threw his hard fists down on his face, and soon, a swelling had covered his eye, while the bridge of his nose was bending in ways it wasn't supposed to.
All Solomon could utter were pained groans. Groans that didn't sooth him either, as it took most of his strength to push them out, exerting pressure on his cracked ribs.
"Are you still hungry or you want some more? You bastard!" Officer Kondo laughed as the pain he inflicted soothed his ego.
"Pablo Escobar," the other two mockingly laughed as they raised up their hands hailing him. Solomon crawled effortlessly as he bled from all parts of his body also throwing up some blood. Take him to cell 6, where he would see hardened criminals like him. Bomboclat!
We are pitiless here! If you were caught as a criminal, or even a suspect don't ever wish to be brought here. We can turn you to half human half carcass," he nodded his head with a proud smirk. This he did anytime he took pleasure in assulting the prison inmates. Officer Kondo was the deadliest, most vile and unmerciful police officer anyone in the police custody can think of. His prisoners are good testifiers of this.
After Solomon was taken to cell 6, officer Kondo walked majestically to a torture table where a suspect was tied to a chair and chained in both arms and feet. Before him was a large bucket of hot water filled to it's brim on the table. His head was forcefully immersed in it constantly by some policemen that kept tormenting him. He would scream in agony and his whole body shivered fervently during each interval of the torment, and come gasping for air after being temporarily released. Also, he was frequently clubbed, electrocuted and burnt with a hot pressing iron.
"Confess!! Young man. You are the one that killed the wife of chief Radeke," there came officer Kondo's threat after a round of torture.
"Please, I'm not. Heaven knows that I am innocent of this allegation. I swear to my late father and to my mother's cunt," the young man said in tears. Officer Kondo moved closer and electrocuted him with a live wire plugged to a nearby socket. After several minutes, he stopped.
"Lad, all we are asking you to do is just to admit that you are guilty of the crime alleged to you period! We don't care to know if you were the one or not. Court is in a few days time and all we need of you is to write a statement declaring that you are the one responsible for chief Radeke's deceased wife's death, simple! That's if you still value your life," he added angrily.
"But this is a lie. You are making to confess under a duress. I can't lie against myself. I didn't do thii-ii-is..." His head was pushed into the hot bucket of water before him and was held tightly for a very long while. He struggled till he gave up the ghost.
"Fuck!" Officer Kondo stampeded his foot in annoyance.
"He's gone," another policeman said after examining his pulse and checked if he was still breathing.
"This is bad market mehn," Officer Kondo said, gnashing his teeth. He was quite puzzled. Also brainstorming about his next line of action.
"Go dispose his body. I will speak with chief Radeke. We probably need someone else. Damn, I was heavily paid for this."
"Holy Mary. We have murdered an innocent man," one of the policemen said in tears, trembling.
"Shut up you fool. Let it never be heard anywhere that this happened. If you let the cat out of the bag , I promise you, I will chop off your head.
Listen officers! We are in this together. We clearly know chief Radeke was the one that stabbed his wife and used her for a blood sacrifice. But we were handsomely paid by him to get someone else to fill in that space since the CID got involved in the investigation. You all got your cut from the money didn't you? So keep your mouth shut, and shut forever!" His voice thundered.
A lot of other brutalities took place in the prisons that night. Majority of the tortured suspects gave in and admitted to the crimes alleged to them being guilty or not. Pain wasn't pleasant to be endured. Brutality was in it various hirachies.
That same night, officer Kondo made sure he pierced broomstick or some other sharp object into the penis of a young prisoner just to make him to 'confess' under much pain. A man was chained up in a less ventilated room that had a powered generator in it in order to be choked by the fumes. Many were hung upside down from the ceiling. Some got nails drilled into different parts of their body, teeth forcefully pulled out with pliers, needles pierced into their eyes and a hot ember of iron was forced into someone's anus. All these puffed so much juy, fulfilment and pride in officer Kondo. It's not fallacy, it's reality. These inhumane acts takes place in various Nigerian prison systems.