บท 49: CH47: INTERROGATION AND JUDGEMENT
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CH47: INTERROGATION AND JUDGEMENT
The two men were not comforted at all. Instead, the dread they felt increased.
"Let me answer the questions you have in your mind before we get started.
No, I'm not a cop. I'm also not the family member of someone you hurt. I actually don't care about you or anything you did. If you ask me, you are just businessmen. If you don't provide the drugs you sell, others will.
What I am interested in is your relationship with Chidozie Agbu a.k.a the Smuggler."
According to his intel, the Okafor brothers were low-level drug dealers. However, for some reason, they got involved with a bigshot like the Smuggler. Their crimes instantly escalated to the extent that it was worth the risk for them to have guns and earn the attention of local police. Aside from their original trade which was drugs, the brothers now take part in smuggling, loan sharks, and illegal gambling.
Of course, they are just errand boys as Korede suspects the real person behind it all should be the Smuggler. Otherwise, there's no way these guys would have been untouchable to the extent that they weren't behind bars or attacked by other gangs with how lax their security was.
Hearing what their captor asked, the brothers' faces changed. The younger brother, Nnamdi, fearfully asked, "Are you an NDz?"
"Shut up!!" The older brother, Eze, shouted. Nnamdi's face crumbled as he realised he had just done something stupid.
Korede smiled as he looked at the brothers. He said, "It looks like Chidozie doesn't want the Duke to know what he is doing. He dared to set up a side business without letting the Duke know. I'm impressed by his guts. Anyway, I'm not an NDz. It's more apt to say I'm their enemy."
He looked at the older brother, "Anyhow, is this the time to be loyal?"
The two brothers looked like they were struggling to come to a decision, so Korede gave them a push.
"Well, since you feel that way, Let's start the game. The rules are simple. I'll ask you questions individually. If I find that the answers don't align, I will shoot whoever I think is lying. As a friendly reminder, you should know that multiple places in the human body can be shot without endangering life while causing excruciating pain. I wouldn't recommend you lying to me as I'll have a lot of chances to get the answers I want."
Korede pulled the chairs further away from each other that the two couldn't hear what the other said. The dread on the brothers' faces intensified further.
Korede found another chair to sit on and started his questioning with the older brother. He asked question after question.
After a while, Korede gave a satisfied nod and gagged the man's mouth with a rag. Then, he made his way to the younger brother.
He dragged his chair along the floor, causing it to make a long screeching, irritating sound. He placed the chair in front of his captive and sat down legs crossed. He said,
"It's your turn now. I'll ask you the same questions I asked your brother. Although as I'm sure you saw, he gave me answers that I think are the truth. I just need you to corroborate it."
Nnamdi Okafor started to sweat profusely. He wondered what his elder brother told their captive. Yes, he was afraid of the Smuggler but currently, he was more afraid of this man in front of him. He didn't want to be tortured.
From his vantage, it looked like even his elder brother gave in and answered their captor's questions after hesitating for a while. Rather than worrying about future reprisals from the Smuggler, he should survive his current condition first. So, he answered all of Korede's questions clearly and completely.
[It worked?] Aon couldn't believe it
'It worked' Korede confirmed as he was sure the man had told the truth.
What Nnamdi didn't know was that Korede had played a trick on him.
Korede never asked the brothers the same questions as he said he would. In fact, he didn't ask Eze about the Smuggler at all since he knew the man would not dare betray his boss.
Nnamdi had always been the target of his interrogation. Since he had determined that the younger brother had the weaker mental fortitude, Korede started with the older brother.
He purposely asked questions that would make Eze hesitate before answering. This was to give Nnamdi the false impression that even his elder brother confessed so there was no need for him to hide anything anymore. It worked perfectly.
Though it was implemented by him, the interrogation tactic wasn't Korede's idea. It had long been established that physical torture was unreliable, so interrogations became more psychological.
Being a psychologist and an aspiring intelligence officer, with a bit of specialisation in interrogations, Temitope Lawal had come up with different ideas to play on human nature to get targets to open up. A lot of these ideas he shared with Korede during their Special Forces Training Camp.
The tactic Korede used happened to be one of them. Korede had never seen it used before so he wasn't sure it would work. Hence he and Aon's surprise.
Korede dragged Nnamdi and the chair back to where his elder brother was. He said, "Thank you, gentlemen. Our conversation was quite enlightening. Like I said before I don't care about your businesses since the way I see it, you provide a service. It's up to the consumer if they do business with you. So, I'm letting you go."
With that said, he cut the rope tying the brothers to the chair. He pointed in the direction of the door indicating for the brothers to leave. The brothers were surprised at first but then became overjoyed. They quickly made their way for the door.
They were almost at the door when they heard Korede ask,
"One more question before you leave. Do you remember a girl by the name Tina Iwobi?"
The two brothers looked at each other confused.
Clearly, they didn't remember the name. So Korede asked another question, "Alright then, do you remember Charles Iwobi?"
Immediately they heard the question, the brothers' faces changed. They tried to run for the door only to be shot in the knees by Korede who had mysteriously appeared very close behind them.
They held their legs as they rolled on the floor. Korede took them by the collar with each hand and threw them back into the warehouse.
Step by step he walked over to them.
He said, "In case you don't remember, let me refresh your memory. Charles Iwobi, a gambling addict, borrowed money from your loan shark business. He lost all the money gambling and wasn't able to pay you by the deadline. To 'encourage' him to pay, you didn't go after him but went after his daughter, Tina Iwobi. You didn't even bother to know her name. You didn't bother to find out about her.
You didn't know that the man who borrowed money from you didn't care about his daughter. Every day after school, she would work a part-time job from the evening well into the night to finance her secondary school education and save for her university tuition. With her mother dead and a useless gambling addict for a father, she had no one to rely on but herself. Her struggles paid off and she finished secondary school. Luck smiled upon her and she was able to earn a scholarship for her university education. Everything was looking up until you two wastes came and ruined everything.
To get her father to pay, you attacked her. Seeing how beautiful she was, you two bastards took turns raping her until she finally died. Not only that, you didn't even leave behind her body. You took it to a crematorium and cremated her body. No body, no case, right?"
By now, the brothers had forgotten about the pain in their legs. Their bodies were shivering in fear. They felt death's warm embrace.
Korede had unconsciously activated {Mindhunter} which was amplifying the brothers' fear according to Korede's rage.
"Please… Please…" The brothers said, shivering.
"Didn't she also beg you? Did you listen? Like I said before, if you had only gone after the person that borrowed money from you, I wouldn't care. However, you took the life of someone completely innocent. That I can't stand. So, goodbye."
With that said, Korede pulled the trigger. Two headshots ended the brothers' lives.
Korede confirmed they were dead by kicking them. Satisfied, he brought out his phone and called Special Agent Ndike.
"Hello." Special Agent Ndike's voice was heard.
"Hello. Is the clean-up crew done?" Korede asked.
"Yes, they are. There wasn't much mess to clean."
"Good. I need them at my current location. Should I send you the address?"
"No need. Don't forget we can track your phone."
"Copy that. I might not be able to send a report tonight. Just got information on a possible location for the Smuggler. I'll be there tonight. According to the ledger, a drug deal will be going down in the early hours tomorrow. So, I'll be heading there immediately if I can find and get the intel from the Smuggler."
"Understood. Let me know how everything goes."
"Solid Copy."
Korede took a glance at the two bodies and walked out of the warehouse. He left behind the Honda Accord he took from the deceased.
He made his way to the main road on foot. As he walked, he and Aon engaged in a conversation.
[Why is it that your emotion goes out of control when someone talks about sexual assault?]
Korede sighed.
This was one of the few things that could make him lose his cool.
'There are five people who are instrumental in making me who I am today. Three of them are females. My mother, my Aunt Bisola, and Z. Whenever I hear about a female being sexually assaulted, I get this fear that it could be any one of them and I lose my cool. I'll never allow anyone to harm my loved ones.' Korede explained.
Aon was silent. He finally understood Korede's strong reactions.
'Besides, those guys I just killed, it wasn't the first time they had done that. It's just that they never leave behind enough proof to convict or the victims are too scared to come forward.' Korede added.
At this moment, Korede had gotten to the main road. He hailed a taxi and went back to the safehouse.
At the safehouse, he made his way straight for the armoury and walked to back where he placed the laptop containing the mission brief. He opened his laptop and typed away.
After about thirty minutes, he had verified the intel he obtained from Nnamdi Okafor. He had also done a check on the location he was given. It was a popular nightclub in the city called Delta.
He was about to close the laptop when he hesitated. He decided to send Special Agent Ndike a status report now that he had the time. When he was done with that, he gathered different gear he thought he would need into a duffel bag.
He placed the bag into the wardrobe and went to take a shower, after which he slept. Though it was still daytime, he might need to pull an all-nighter so he wanted to take any opportunity to rest.
Nigerian Department Of Intelligence Operations Office, Onitsha.
For the operation against the NDz, the NDI secretly set up a small temporary office in Onitsha to co-ordinate with the other branches of Operation PythonSlaying as well as provide support for the Operator on the ground.
While Korede slept, Special Agent Ndike was going through his status report. When he was done, he uploaded the intel to the database. Just as he finished, he received a call from his superior, Special Agent Danjuma.
"Hello, sir " Special Agent Ndike greeted.
"Hello. How are things in Onitsha?"
"Everything is fine, sir. I just uploaded new intel to the database. It will be helpful to other branches."
"Alright. I'll look it over and make the necessary adjustments to our plans. How's our Operator fairing?"
'He is doing quite well. Honestly, I thought he was going to be dropping bodies all around but he is being discrete. He has spent the last few days gathering intel. He even had Peter and Esther Duke in sight but he didn't take them out. He obtained some interesting intel instead. It looks like he has something bug planned."
"He hasn't killed anyone?"
"No, he has. Kill count so far is four."
"How'd that happen?"
"It seems that, while trying to apprehend the Okafor brothers that run errands for the Smuggler, shots were exchanged. Our Operator killed one instantly while two gang members were left mortally wounded. By the time our clean-up crew arrived, One had succumbed, the other is still battling for his life at a hospital. They also recovered seven unconscious gang members. They are being interrogated as we speak.
As for the Okafor brothers, we found them dead in a warehouse our Operator sent us to. All indications point to execution. Aside from that, there're no civilian casualties. All incidents were isolated away from innocents."
"Alright. Let him do whatever he wants as long as it doesn't hamper the mission." Special Agent Danjuma ordered.
"Understood." Special Agent Ndike replied.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
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