Freedom is a myth

By Yemisi Okunowo


CHAPTER 1

“Run, Run, Run” were the words I heard, Awon omo Ile-Itan nboo!!(The men from Ile-Itan are coming), don’t look back, run!!! I ranfaster than my heart beat, I heard the bullets of their gunspass through my mind, the stamps from their feet tookaway my heart from my chest , The men from Ile-Itan village hadleft their abode to come seek for bloodshed andterror. No one was prepared for their coming;itwas thebeginning of theend of the world!My father and mother had gone to the farm, it was just I and myelder brother, everyonehad ran out from their homes with little or no direction, the unintentional head-butts already takingplace in this helter-skelter wereenough to cause the deaths we were running away from.

The stray bullets from the guns of these warriors were all over the place, I heard screams and tears like I had never heard before, I saw hatred and love in a whole scene. At this point, I couldn’t even identify myself any longer;itwas up to Oodua to keep me alive.While running, I slowed down and looked back to have the last view of my birthplace, Morakeke, A peaceful community that once smiled, became this unexplainable atmosphere of overwhelming sadness.

With so much anger in me,I stopped. Yes, I stopped! At this point of reflection, I felt I could go back tokill everyIle-Itan warriorand later on save my people but this wasn’t a fairy tale;it was...it was...it was... “Funkeeee!!!” I heard my name being called with so much pain, yet so much relief. My brother called me while hiding in the bushes from afar of, I forgot all I was reflecting upon and ran fast to join my brother in Morakeke’s undying race for survival.The Itan warriorspursued us deep into the Abami forest;they were hell bent on making sure no one escaped. I didn’t look back, I kept on running!untilIheard the sound of a bullet pierce through flesh and this time very close to me, was that me?? No it wasn’t, not like it was any better, it was my Akin who had gotten shot, My brother slumped to the ground, groaning in pains, I moved closer to him , Akin had been shot in the back and couldn’t move, I saw blood gushing fast with nothing I could do, I was very scared, Akin! Akinn!! Akinnn!!! I screamed,

I was on the ground and never have I held someone close, I cried like my tears were life, Akin moved to speak but his words were breath...I felt his heartbeat eventually stop.This time I screamed in silence, I felt a part of my world crumble in a space of minutes;I fell to the ground and screamed in tears helplessly. Akin died.I had always heard stories of wars between other communities and I felt the numbers occurring from the bloodshed had beenexaggerated especiallyafterhearing them from Baba Ajidagba’slips, a popular storyteller who was only an armor bearer in his days.

My unknown greatest fear was right in front of me and I knew for sure, bloodshed can never really be exaggerated; it onlydepends on who you are losing. The Ile-Itan warriorssaw me on the ground,they looked at me smilingat each othersheepishly, at that point I looked at what I was wearing and I realized I wasn’t even wearing a bra, my wrapper had also been slit at the side,they kept on coming closer. It was a predator trapping prey kind of situation, I was in tears and in my worst state and their minds could still go to that?!!I was scaredand was screaming very loud with tears all over me,I begged and cried, butitdidn’t look like they were going to bother, one held my hands and another held my legs together, I was trying to fightthem off, I kicked and kicked, but I was trapped with 3 men! Oodua! Oodua!! Oduduwaaa!!!! Please, Pleeease look down on me!! That was my final plea.

Before I knew it, an Ile-Itan warrior with a charm embedded coat came into the scene, he stopped them and also cautioned them, they apologized to him. Being so late at night,I couldn’t even see him,I just knew I had just been saved .I could hear the chirps from bats roaming above the trees, everywhere became cloudy and I eventually fainted.What is next for me? Loosing almosteverything in just a day? Am I dead ornot? Oodua, will you look down upon your people? I thought of these in my shadowy realm.


Chapter 2

I felt the splash of water on my forehead and my eyes opened again, my legs had been hooked with chains and my hands chained to someone else’s .It took a while to observe what was before me...Oh ,You mean I’m still alive? Shall I give thanks to Oodua? Is this a blessing or a curse? Is there a way I can forge through or a sign I should know? Is there a road I can follow or a way to tow? I heardwhispers from the guardsabout a meeting being called by...I didn’t know if I got the name correctly but something about “Ajiriku”. I wasn’t the only one paying attention to the whispers, my partner who waslikewise chained like I was heard the name and fell down in tears after hearing the name. I couldn’t understand what was going on. She continued crying like her execution date had been fixed. I think it was something about the name...”Hmmm...Ajiriku, Balogunawon Balogun” A man with a very deep voicesaid in a sober reflection.

Who is Ajiriku? The only question in my head at that point, The guardslaughed at what was going on and I couldn’t phantom how the name of a man could bring tears to faces of people. Iasked my partner, “Joodakun, ta ni Ajiriku?” “Ahhh Ajiriku” She screamed.She said youdon’t know Ajiriku? I said I do not know him. Ajiriku which was obviously a nickname given to him by his people, was the Balogun of Ile-Itan village, He wasregardedas the most fearless warlord in the whole of the south, How come I had never heard the name? I asked.Shesaid Ajiriku ate blood with meat for breakfast, Shesaid Ajiriku lost his virginity even before his parents did, She said when Ajiriku goes to visit you,you are the guest, Shesaid Oxygen needs Ajiriku to survive, I shouted “Ahh!” Shesaid Ajiriku helped the nurses when he was born,shesaid when Ajiriku was 12years,

He decided to live by himself and his parents had to move to another house.“Yeh, Yeh, Se mi iwa gbe bayii” (I am not in trouble like this?) were the words I uttered with both of my hands on my head, It is one thing to be captured and another to be captured by a man who lost his virginity before his parents! But what will Ajiriku want todo with us now? I asked...She said we are now his slaves and he shall use us as he pleases. I asked my partner where she was from and she said she was from faraway lands, her family was banished from her hometown and they found their way down to Ile-itan but were caught by guards after trying to steal food, her both parents had been slaughtered in the market place while she was taken as a slave by Ajiriku’s guards.

Hmmm...My parents, I wonder where they will be by now, Oodua please keep them safe for me;I prayed.But how come you weren’t also killed? I asked in curiosity. She said she did something she’ll never forgive herself for. What was that? I asked again, She looked at me like I was about to judge her of all her life’s sins, she said she...she... “HEY! BOTHOF YOU!! STOP TALKING!!” a guardshoutedfrom a distance. “ANOTHER WORD FROM ANY OF YOU AND YOU SHALL REGRET EVER HEARING THE WORD REGRET”.We stopped talking immediately, Night fell and all slaves were served food. They all rushed to their food. The guards laughed saying“Eat it well;it just might be your last”. My partner (I had even forgotten to ask for her name)rushed to the food like a dogthathasn’t seen itsguardian in years. She ate everything, even licked the plate, for the food we were supposed to share!

All I did was stare at her in amazement, she said she didn’t know I was hungry. Honestly, I was hungry but I needed someone like Maamito come feed meand tell me everything will be alright, she said“eeyah, all the best”We all went to sleep;I woke up to a splash of water from the guards, they seemed angry about God knows what!They asked every slave to come outside and line themselves up .The males were placed on one line and the females were placed on another line. We were to be apportioned to our various roles in Ajiriku’s home.For the first time, I looked around Ile-Itan and the first thing I could notice were the numberof bats in Ile-Itan, myth saysthere areoveramillion bats,

They roamed freely in the sky and looked happyand freein the way they sounded. Apart from the bats, Ile-Itan was a truly beautiful place, atrue village of history. The way their buildingsincorporated their history, the beauty in their trees and how these buildings were arranged in order was really spectacular and much more different from Morakeke village. Even while living in thisshould be paradise why all the killings and bloodshed from here? Why don’t they live in peace and help neighboring villages grow like them? I wondered.What hadeven caused the coming of Ile-Itan soldiers into Morakeke village?Ajiriku, a strong man that he is regarded as, had 6 wives and about 20children who all lived in the same compound, this compound had a lot of space.

I have to admit Balogun Ajiriku lived the life of a king, I thought if the home of the Balogun could be as large and beautiful as this, how will the King’s palace be?2of us were selected to work with Ajiriku’s first wife; hername was Rolake, Rolake Iyawo Balogun, My partner who I later got to know as Abike happens to know a thing about everything, She said Rolake is nowhere close to a nice woman, she was the first wife of the Balogun and obviously his confidant, there were rumors of her poisoning some of the wives of the Balogun to death or turning some wives againsteach other tocause hatred and bigotry amongst the wives. It is said that each wife is part of a particular squad,what they don’t know is they are all puppets to Rolake. They are all being used by Rolake in achievingany of her objectives.This hadtainted my mind on the kind of person Rolake was and how I was to thread carefully while working with her.

We were waiting downstairs when Rolake walked down to meet us, She walked with such elegance, A truly beautiful woman, she didn’t look old for someone who has had 5 children, I guess even as wicked Ajiriku was ,he still hada good taste in women. We all knelt down to greet Rolake, She greeted us while trying to pull us up to our feet ,also even smiling,she asked which town we were from and tried to know a thing or two about us, she eventually told the guards to help us in getting new clothes and also showing us to our rooms, and I looked at Abike to give her this signal of “Are you sure?” Abike didn’t appear surprised at her actions. She gave this smirk of “You wait and see”Rolakewas the largest trader oftextile materials especially; Adire in the whole of Ile-Itan, Her Adire was the finest in town, they were made with such fine material and designs, Rolake was this independent woman who was doing really well in her business and being also productive too as she had given lives to many by employing young girls to work for her Adire business, some had even gone out to establish their own textilebusinesses and still employ more people especially girls, Rolake was indeed a motivation and mentor to many young girls in Ile-Itan.

Days and weeks passed and I happened to get closer to Rolake, I was very fond of her and she was also very fond of me too, She happened to like me better than the others and she didn’t hide it, I was loving the feeling though,Abike always advised that I still thread carefully with her and not lose my head. I got to know many young girls in Ile-Itan and how many had been captured from their villages into becoming slaves in Ile-Itan . I got closer to some of them and happened to know some had deeper stories than I did, many girls had been molested and even had no hopes any longer, I was definitely not alone and it gave me this feeling of being with a new family.Maami...Baami...Akin...Their faces flashed through my mind once in a while, I hope Oodua islooking after them on my behalf. I always wondered what will remain of Morakeke village, thosefarmlands...that peace...that serenity, how will My Morakeke be by now?Again I asked, what had even caused the coming of Ile-Itan soldiers into my village?