This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
***
CH52: CAUSING GANG WAR
"Why didn't you just ask us to let you deliver the drugs another day?" Oziomo Okoh asked agitated.
"Not my decision nor my problem." Korede said with a shrug. "Alright, I guess you aren't taking my deal."
"Kill them, boys!!" He ordered the NDz members.
After giving the order, Korede quickly ducked back just as the gunfire began. Oziomo had also been moved back by his men.
The NDz were better equipped than the other two gangs. Out of the twenty, twelve had AK47s, compared to the other side that had only seven even though they had almost thirty men.
The NDz were quickly able to pin down the two gangs with their superior fire-power. To make matters worse for them, Korede had recovered a Remington ACR from where he hid it beforehand close to the crate he stood by. (1)
Very quickly, he had dropped five men in rapid succession. This allowed the NDz to gain more ground. Korede didn't do much else, he just occasionally suppressed any A4 or Saints that stood out.
Korede didn't actually want to kill all the members of the two gangs. He wanted some of them to escape as it was integral to the next parts of his overall plan. He saw Oziomo Okoh already heading towards the door but ignored him. He just continued to pin down gang members for the NDz to finish off.
After about thirty minutes, the shoot-out ended as the last gang member in sight had been killed. Korede could tell that aside from Oziomo Okoh and six others that escaped, the rest of the two gangs laid in the warehouse, dead.
The NDz also lost eight men while five were injured to varying degrees. In truth, Korede had been secretly responsible for some of them.
The survivors gathered themselves. They looked at Korede as if expecting an answer. Korede, however, didn't give them one. Instead, he said,
"Good work, boys. Gather our men and make the proper preparations. Most importantly, you are to forget everything that happened here. You know the consequences if we find out anyone of you talked. I will be visiting you personally. You should already know by now that I am not a good visitor to have. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes!" The men responded.
"Good. Also, get your men in the surrounding areas to leave." Korede ordered.
"Some people escaped. We can use our lookouts to find them and finish them off." The man Korede punched to the floor earlier suggested.
"No! We can't have more people knowing that we tried to kill our customers. The lesser the number of people that know the better." Korede replied.
A weird look flashed through the men's eyes when they heard the last statement.
They all quickly left.
[You said that on purpose.]
'Of course.' Korede chuckled. 'They will be sensitive for a while thinking that the NDz might try to silence them. Some of them might even go into hiding. That will buy me some more time.'
[Anyway, I can't believe your plan worked.]
'Well, it didn't work as I planned.'
[Don't be greedy. Most plans don't go perfectly.]
'That's true.'
Korede brought out his phone and dialled SAN.
"Hello!" Special Agent Ndike's agitated voice was heard. "How was it? Were you successful?"
"Yes, the plan was a success. Just a minor detail didn't go as expected. I expect the A4s and Saints to declare war on the NDz by tomorrow. NDz reputation will also take a hit. That will affect a lot of their businesses in the short run."
"That's good. Even if the gang war doesn't happen, this will at least put a hit on their finances. Good work."
"Thanks."
"So, what was the minor detail? Is it important?"
"Maybe. I had originally planned to takeout Oziomo Okoh but it was Adesusu Amadin that died. I had to let Oziomo go. If it was Adesusu, given his hot temper, I'm sure he would start the war. As for Oziomo, the man is too conservative. He might want to call a meet first before declaring war."
"Do you have a solution?"
"I might."
"Ok. Let me know if you need anything. Should I send the clean-up crew to your location?"
"Yes, please do. They will need to get the drugs out of here before the NDz or the police can claim it. According to the ledger, some members of the local police are on the NDz payroll."
"Don't worry, they're close. Everything will be cleared before anyone notices."
"I feel I should apologise to the team for dragging them around so much in the last few hours."
Special Agent Ndike laughed. "Don't worry. That's their job after all."
"If you say so."
"So, anything else?"
"No, that's all for now."
"Alright. Call me if you need anything."
"Copy that."
The call ended.
Korede looked around. A frown appeared on his face.
'It's quite disturbing that I feel nothing from seeing all these dead bodies. I was even able to easily act indifferent as I watched a man choke to death. I should schedule a session with Aunt Bisola when I get back. Hopefully, nothing is wrong with me psychologically.'
[Do their deaths bother you?]
'No, they deserve it as far as I'm concerned. I'm just worried that I'll become numb. I think the things I've read and seen these guys do has made me grow blind to the light of humanity. I don't want to lose my humanity to the extent that I'm numb to death, even if I know they deserve it. That will make me no different from a machine.'
[Be careful of the Abyss. As you stare into the Abyss, it stares back into you.]
'Exactly.' Korede sighed.
He once again looked at the bodies on the floor. His eyes stopped on Adesusu Amadin's body.
'This guy really is unlucky. I had planned everything so that Oziomo Okoh would be the one to fall. I had specifically taken routes that would plant suggestions in his mind. Even when we got here, my words, actions, the position I stood where all geared into subconsciously making Oziomo Okoh be the one to test the drug. Alas… what a pity'
[Man proposes, God disposes. Isn't that the saying?]
'Yeah.'
With the information Chidozie gave him, Korede had come up with an elaborate plan. According to Chidozie, Oziomo Okoh was the more cautious of the two gang leaders so he was usually the one that chose the crate to be tested. Most times, he did the testing himself. Chidozie insisted that Oziomo had no pattern and that he always chose randomly. However, from the little psychology Korede knew, he knows that humans are not capable of being random. Certain things around us influence our choice, hence, our choices aren't completely up to chance i.e random.
He prepared a plan where everything he did, how he spoke, the route they took to the warehouse, his mannerism and positioning in the warehouse were meant to influence his target to choose the crate containing the spiked cocaine.
Unfortunately, he didn't expect his plan to have had more effect on Adesusu than Oziomo.
Due to their conflict, Adesusu paid more attention to Korede than Oziomo, which would normally not have happened. Hence, he received the 'suggestions' more than Oziomo which is why he was the one who chose and ingested the spiked cocaine instead of the intended target, Oziomo Okoh.
Korede had spiked the cocaine with Sodium Polyacrylate powder he prepared from the baby diapers he bought previously at the store.
Polyacrylate is a water-absorbent. It should not be ingested or inhaled because it can absorb water/moisture in the body and form blockages of important pathways.
Adesusu Amadin had died exactly because the Polyacrylate had blocked his trachea by absorbing the moisture and mucous layer in it thereby preventing the flow of air to his lungs. It would have been an excruciating way to die.
Korede shook his head before he left the warehouse. He needed to rest up as more things needed to be done in the day. He got on the bike and rode to an area close to the safehouse. He hid the bike before making his way to the safehouse while carrying the duffel bag with his equipment. It was 4 am by the time he got 'home'. Korede crashed on his bed and slept off almost immediately.
**
While Korede was sleeping comfortably, Oziomo Okoh was moving around warily trying to avoid detection. Onitsha was the NDz turf which they 'ruled' with a tight grip. If he wasn't careful, he would be found and killed.
'Duke, I don't know what you gain from doing this but I'll make you pay a price.' Oziomo Okoh swore in his heart.
He and six others finally made it to the house other Saints gang members had been staying in Onitsha. Just because fifteen people went for the deal didn't mean only fifteen of them came to Onitsha.
Both gangs had brought a lot of manpower to protect their purchase as they returned to their states. The first team of fifteen that went to the drug deal was led by the gang leader while the much larger second team was led by the second-in-command of each gang.
Azuka Okoh was Oziomo Okoh's brother and second-in-command. He had been waiting hours for his brother to call so that he could lead the second team to go pick-up their purchase. He, however, had not received the call.
He was getting worried when a knock was heard. It was in a secret rhythm used by his elder brother. He quickly gestured to a gang member with his hands to open the door.
When the door opened, Oziomo Okoh and his companions entered.
Azuka was surprised to see his brother's current state. His clothes were torn and dirty due to the 'escape' from the NDz.
"What happened to you?" Azuka asked in surprise.
"The NDz double-crossed us. They killed Amadin and all the other men. Only those of us you see here survived." Oziomo replied.
"What?!" Azuka was shocked.
"Something was wrong with one of the crates they wanted to sell to us. Amadin died because of it. The NDz attacked us after it was obvious something was wrong with their drugs."
"I don't get it. Why did they attack you?" Azuka Okoh asked.
"Reputation." Oziomo replied as he gritted his teeth in anger. "It was to protect their reputation. If word got out that the product they sold was spoilt, their business and reputation would take a hit. So they decided to risk it and silence us. The few of us just barely managed to escape."
Oziomo clenched his fist. He continued, "I knew something was wrong when a new guy we didn't know appeared instead of Chidozie. I should have kept my guard up."
"It wasn't Chidozie that handled the deal?"
"It wasn't. I don't know who this guy was but he isn't ordinary. Even in the face of a gun, he didn't flinch in the slightest. He wasn't perturbed. It wasn't false bravado but real confidence. I suspect he could kill a lot of us just by himself."
"What? Really? The NDz had such a person?" Azuka was shocked.
If the words came from anyone else, he would have doubted but he knew his brother only spoke those words because he was reasonably sure.
"It seems like it." Oziomo Okoh responded, releasing a breath. "If I had to guess, he must be part of the Duke's rumoured secret guards that protect him in the background and get rid of troublesome obstacles for him. I heard they received some sort of military training. That guy was the real deal so the rumours must be true."
Although the rumours about having military trained guards were true, the guards were nowhere trained nor skilled to the level of special forces like Korede. They were barely qualified to be called 'trained soldier' actually. However, they were strong enough in the eyes of gangs like these.
"That means…" Azuka realised something from his brother's words.
"Yes. This was planned from the start." Oziomo replied before explaining his guess. "The Duke received a call while we were at the club which caused him to leave abruptly. I think that was when he was first informed about the problem with the drugs because he had told us Chidozie would be the one to handle the deal before he left. It must've been later when he realised the problem was more serious.
Since we were already in Onitsha and he had already been bragging to us about how the deal would change the landscape of Nigeria's criminal underworld, he must have concluded that he would be disgraced if he told us about the problem. He couldn't allow his reputation to be tarnished if he wants to displace the Mob as the top gang in the country."
Azuka Okoh shot to his feet in anger. "That's it? That's why he wanted to kill us all? Reputation?"
The other members of the Saints listening in on the conversation also had visible anger on the faces.
Oziomo Okoh replied. "What do you know? Reputation is a very important currency in our line of work. In any line of work for that matter. It takes a long time to build but can easily be destroyed in a short time. In our line of work, in the eyes of an arrogant and domineering man like Jonathan Duke, Reputation is a very good reason to kill for."
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING
Remington ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle).
Weight: 3.6 - 4.4Kg
Length: 82.8cm
Barrel Action: Gas-operated short-stroke piston and a rotating bolt
Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto/ Full-Auto (650-700 rounds per min.)
Effective Range: 500m(for point target) / 600m(area target.)
Muzzle Velocity: 490-690m per sec.
Calibre: 5.56x45mm NATO rounds
Magazine: 30 rounds M16 or AR17-compatible STANAG magazine.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]