The Trial of Kaburu (Episode 2)

By

Ayuk Kure

The soldiers who had been stationed on the roads were dog-tired and from what it seemed, ‘Operation Bulala’ had failed. They had been on the road one whole month and still there was no sign of the assassin. They had deployed Operation Bulala thinking that the tactic would fish out the culprits easily. Alas, it yielded no results.  The modus of Operation Bulala was simply to stop every moving object on the highway for a scrupulous search. In this view, the soldiers not only stopped pedestrians and vehicles plying the roads, they asked for IDs and sought to know where the people or the vehicles were from. If they were foreigners, they were immediately bundled into the military vans and taken to the barracks for staid questioning. Both the search and the questioning had no regard for gender. Male officers spearheaded the process and utilized the opportunity maximally. For their female victims, the search always ended on the chest. Each time they got to that juncture, it seemed they had suddenly found the perpetrators of the crime. While ruffling the chests of the unsuspecting women, they asked weird questions like “what did you hide in here” as though those portions contained the bullets that killed the erstwhile Prime Minister. 

The Navy and the Air-force came back with the same report –no sign of the fugitive. This got the government really worried and they thought of doing something really fast about the situation lest it escalated and the culprits went scot-free. In the meantime, the post of the Prime Minister was filled by the parliament. By the Zugarian constitution, the vacancy ought to be filled not more than 7 days after the death of the Prime Minister. Already, they were 21 days in breach and in order to avoid a looming public opprobrium, a vote of confidence was cast on Dr. Zumba Kazimpe to be Prime Minister in the stead of the deceased Petra Damilo. Dr. Zumba Kazimpe was no doubt a voice in the parliament which explains why he won the vote by a landslide. He was famous for his tenacity and rascality. But he had what some persons would call a major comma –his patriarchal views. He was strongly opposed to women participating in politics and assuming public offices. According to him, allowing women participate in politics was like putting a fish out of its natural habitat –“they will suffocate in the face of adversity”. At the time Petra Damilo was running for the office of Prime Minister, he had withstood her with all his means and resources. The only reason he did not emerge was because Petra Damilola was smarter and more experienced. Unlike Dr. Zumba, she had started canvassing for votes to ascend the exalted position in her first term as a member of the parliament. Even, by academic pedigree, Dr. Zumba was no march for her. In addition to her numerous Masters Degrees, she was a Doctor of Law and an Honorary Doctor of Robotics in Harvard University. It was these distinct qualities that endeared her to the members of the parliament who voted her in before her gruesome murder.

Back at the Presidential Lodge, a source close to the presidency suggested that the most renowned secret agent in Zugaria, Ayub Wakili be engaged for the job.

****
He tapped gently on the door and a baritone voice from within the room answered,
“You may come”.
He opened the door with poise and went inside with the demeanor of a warrior about to pounce on his enemy.
“Mr. President, My name is Ayub Wakili. You sent for me” he said as he made his way into the nicely decorated office of the ceremonial leader of Zugaria.
“Oh, oh you are the secret agent?” the president replied as he motioned him to take a sit
“My friend, I suppose you are already aware of what happened to the Prime Minister and need not be further briefed.” President Pelus Gimba said to Ayub as he comfortably took his seat.
“Yes Mr. President, I’m aware of the unfortunate incidence that hastened our Prime Minister’s steps to the great beyond” Ayub Wakili said.
Without being asked he said:
“Mr. President, my team and I can lift the veil, let slip and uncover the identities of the slayer(s) of the Prime Minister and bring them tail-between-the-legs before the intimidating presence of the law”.
The ceremonial leader was curious. “So how will you go about this?” he asked.
“In criminal investigation, the best way to catch, penetrate and violate the impenetrable premises of a criminal is to think the way he thinks and act the way he acts. Until you can predict his thoughts and pre-calculate his actions he will always be a hundred yards ahead of you”.
“Interesting!” the president said as he stretched his hands across the table to shake hands with him. “You have the job!”
“…and whatever you need to make the work easy and fast we would provide”.
“I’m most grateful Mr. President” Ayub replied.
“However Mr. President, I need the personal details of every security personnel detailed to work on the day she died and I need the details of everyone who was in the tent area at the time the Prime Minister was delivering her Independence Day speech.”

***
When he got home that evening, he could hardly sleep. His custom when he returns from work was usually to sit in the sitting room to sip kunun zaki while he watched Channels Television. But today things were different. He spent the whole night ruminating over the possible killers of the Prime Minister. 

“Could it have been her most pronounced political opponent, Dr. Zumba Kazimpe?” he asked himself as he lay in his bed with his eyes tightly shut.
“That would be too obvious”. He answered himself as he shrugged his shoulders.
“In politics, politicians hardly ever harm their direct opponents. It would appear too obvious to the public that they did” Ayub soliloquized further
After much thought, he concluded that the killer of the Prime Minister could not have been her political rival, Dr. Zumba. Even though the man would be investigated as well, there was no need directing all the attention to him. In high treasonable felonies like this, the perpetrators were usually unfathomable.

As he pressed his eyes shut on the bed, he resolved to commence his investigation this conduct a forensic examination on the bullets recovered from the scene of the crime the next morning.

Very early the next morning, Ayub drove to the National Theatre of Investigative Forensics, Labos. The examination of the bullets didn’t take long before the results were ready. The Forensic scientist explained that the examination shows that the bullet was from a sniper rifle called, Accuracy International AS50.
“I haven’t heard or seen that kind of sniper rifle before. Is it new?” Ayub asked curiously.
“Yes, it is.”
“The AS50 sniper was recently produced by Accuracy International, a British company which manufactures riffle. The AS50 is a special kind of gun which can shoot from a five miles range and can shatter any region of the human body it impacts.” He said as looked into the face of Ayub who was still staring at him curiously.
He continued:
“The reason the AS50 isn’t as popular as the Alejandro which you well know, is because at the time of making, it was proscribed. It was considered a genocidal weapon which could not be allowed into unskilled hands. It was however allowed for use by high ranking officers in the British army and that’s the only place you can find this rifle in the world.”
“Does this mean that whoever killed the Prime Minster must have something to do with the British army?” Ayub asked again.
“Exactly!” the Forensic scientist responded finally.
“”Mr. Salle, is there a way I can figure out the person who used that gun in Zugaria?” Ayub inquired yet again.
“Yes” 
“We can find the killer if we crack the code on the cartridge”.
“But no one has ever been able to crack that code” the forensic scientist concluded as he made his way out of the lobby leaving Ayub there with his thoughts.

“The end*

(Watch out for episode 3)

Comment on the mode of search conducted by men of the army in the above scenario.