Dirty Diamonds Of Boko Haram Part 1 by Eze Eke Page B

colonel.
“Aside from the fact that his private operations within these last
few months have become too devastating not to talk of crippling,
Military Intelligence has finally got confirmation that he and not
Umar, is the liaison between Boko Haram and Islamic State in Libya
with connections in Mali”
    Alex suddenly understood a lot of things. “So
he’s the one who’s been running the guns! No wonder they let him
operate so freely”
    “Yes, and you of all people should know
exactly how hard it is to get on the man’s trail, so it’s now or
never. El Soldat has to be taken out and under the circumstance you
are the best man for the job”
    “I don’t think so, sir. Like I said, I’m not
military anymore so all of this is really none of my business.
Considering how I was treated by you people, I can freely say that
I don’t give a shit ”
    The colonel sighed. “Lieutenant, the doctor
that gave evidence secretly at your court-martial, do you know who
put him up to it?”
    “He went forward himself, he was my
doctor”
    “You had General Suleman looking to bury you
for putting his son, your direct commanding officer, in
hospital with multiple fractures minus one eye. You really think
anyone below full Colonel would have stuck his neck out for your
sake? I had to send people to threaten that doctor in unique ways
before he agreed to speak out”
    Alex stared speechless.
    The colonel smiled. “I didn’t abandon you
even then like you thought I did. You were my best operative and so
I took the needed time to study you carefully. Yes, I knew you a
lot better than you thought I did. I knew that for you to go
berserk the way you did, there had to be a damn good reason so I
set out to find it and when I did, when I saw the true nature of
it, I made the decision to see you free. That decision was also
made, based on the fact that you were a man of honor and a true
patriot who would always give his best for his country, whether in
or out of the force. I felt you would be of great service someday
and I wasn’t wrong” the Colonel stared at Alex. “Lieutenant, it is
time to repay my belief in you. It is time to repay all the money,
time and trust your country invested in you. Your country needs
your help at this hour”
    Alex sighed, the trap had already closed on
him.
    “You have other good operative, sir, why not
send them? I’ve been out of training for six whole months. I’m
grossly out of shape”
    “You may have been out of training for six
months, Lieutenant, but I’m willing to bet a year’s salary that
with your new multimillion naira contract that is sending you into
a war zone again, you’ve already gone into some form of intensive
training and if Damion here were to take a go at you right now, he
too will end up in a hospital with multiple fractures and he’s one
of my best men even now” the colonel had jerked his head at the man
in the front passenger seat before him.
    Alex said nothing as the Colonel stared hard
at him.
    “Being out of shape is no excuse when your
country needs you, Lieutenant. If you are not fully fit yet then
one or two energy pills should be of some help, we still have
those”
    Alex searched frantically for a means of
escape. “You could just send one or two of the 001 class operatives
to take care of El Soldat”
    “Most of them are dead. Zacki, Freshman,
Amedu, Jericho, even you unkillable friend Christian, they are all
dead. We lost them and thirteen good soldiers at a single ambush
during the fall of Gwoza last three month. We sent them after
Abubakar Shekau who was supposed to show up there but never
did”
    Alex stared in disbelief. “Where any of them
captured?”
    “No, they were all slaughtered like pigs.
They were led right into the ambush by a double agent we thought we
could trust and gunned down by heavy machine-gun fire. There is no
one left with the adequate experience and skills to go after El
Soldat alone, deep in enemy territory like he is. I have