Ibrahim’s Story
On the morning of the day in 2015 that Ibrahim’s life crumbled, there was nothing unusual to indicate that it will be different from any other day. He woke up very early as usual to say his prayers and then began to prepare for his journey to the construction site of the housing estate on Kaduna Road, where he worked as a security guard. His wife Amina also woke up early. Usually, she would pack some food and snacks for him to take to work. He would be away for four days when the guards who worked the next shift would come to take over from him. The food would not last for four days of course, as there was no way of preserving it but at least for the first day, he would have home cooked food to remind him of his home and his beautiful wife awaiting his return. This time though there was no cooked food and Amina explained guiltily that she had not been to the market as planned. Ibrahim brushed it aside and told her not to worry as there was a hawker who sold food near the site. He would go there for his lunch.
Ibrahim was not a man given to emotional displays of affection so there was no long-drawn-out hugging and kissing as he said good bye. Like every other day, he simple picked up his bag, allowing his hand to run down her back in a half-hearted perfunctory embrace and walked out into the dark morning to make his way to work. Perhaps if he had known that this would be the last time they would be together, he would have held her tightly and shown more emotion. But then if he knew how the day would unfold, he probably wouldn’t even have gone to work at all. As it was neither of them knew that after today’s events their lives would change forever.
When Ibrahim arrived at the site, his colleague, Ahmed was already there. He and the other guards were waiting for him to perform the hand over since he was the head guard. The site they were guarding was a housing estate that was still being built. There were two guards on duty usually and they worked three-day shifts. His colleague Ahmed was a shifty fellow who was always shirking work and constantly questioning his authority. They often had arguments and Ibrahim had even reported him to their supervisor who cautioned Ahmed. Since then, they had a strained relationship but Ibrahim tried to avoid quarrelling with him.
The head guard who was handing over gave the bunch of keys to the store to Ibrahim and said “there will be a delivery today. Supervisor came and he said we should expect tiles. They were supposed to bring it yesterday but they couldn’t make it because of the rain”.
The small store which he had received the keys for, held a few valuable materials and tools which the builders required from time to time. When they needed anything, the supervisor would authorise the head guard to give it to them. Not much was written down or properly recorded because most of the workers on the site including Ibrahim could neither read nor write.
Ibrahim had attended primary school in Bebeji, Kano where he grew up and lived with his parents. He didn’t finish school because he wasn’t really interested and preferred instead to assist his father on his farm. His father had nine children all from one wife, and with so many mouths to feed, education was not a priority. Most of them had worked on the farm with him. Ibrahim in particular was very close to his father who died in 2010. Four years after his father’s demise, with nothing much to do in Kano, Ibrahim had decided to move to Abuja and find work.
Later that day as expected, the tiles were delivered. A couple of labourers accompanied the driver but Ibrahim and Ahmed still had to help with the offloading. Ibrahim is a stocky fellow with rippling muscles, thanks to his years of working on the farm. His physique coupled with a long scar, starting from his left eye and running down the side of his face, makes him look like an ex-boxer. His gentle eyes in contrast though, indicate an amiable personality. There were quite a few houses being built so a huge number of tiles were delivered. To Ibrahim’s irritation, Ahmed as usual was shirking the work and not really helping to carry and stack the tiles. He shrank back so that he made one trip for every three trips the others made. He was not quite as heavily built as Ibrahim, not quite as hardworking and not quite as strong as it turned out.
The delivery driver counted the boxes of tiles and told Ibrahim how many there were. This wasn’t really necessary because, unable to count them, Ibrahim had stacked the tiles in a way that he could tell at a glance if any went missing. After the delivery van departed, Ibrahim left Ahmed in charge and went off to find food since he didn’t have a packed lunch that day. He spent a considerable time away as he decided to take a break and chat with the other regulars he usually encountered at the “Mama Put” nearby. With a full stomach, a happier Ibrahim returned to the site to continue the day’s watch. He stopped in his tracks however when he saw the pile of tiles. He knew instantly that some were missing because they were not stacked in the way he had left them.
“Who removed some tiles from here?” he asked Ahmed. “The tiles are not complete” he said.
Ahmed was taken aback. He did not expect to be busted so soon and he had not prepared an appropriate response if and when he was finally accosted. “Who told you tiles are missing” he retorted.
Ibrahim stared at him. Guilt was written all over Ahmed’s face and he knew he was lying. This was going to cause trouble because as head security he would be held responsible for the missing tiles. He always knew Ahmed would cause serious problems for him and now this. He advanced threateningly on Ahmed.
“Answer me now, who removed tiles from here? I left you with the tiles. Did anyone else come here? What happened to the tiles?” he persisted.
But Ahmed was not prepared to give in. He immediately went on the defensive “What do you mean Ibrahim? Are you suspecting me of taking the tiles?”.
Even the way he said it confirmed to Ibrahim that he was guilty. By this time, they were standing up close and waving their hands in each other’s faces. Their old enmity was back and came to the fore taking charge of the whole proceedings. Ibrahim does not remember who struck first but in no time, they started to fight and punch each other out. There were a few workers in the estate but they were not exactly nearby, not near enough to separate them anyway. They beat each other black and blue and then they picked up some bamboo sticks and began to hit each other with them. They were both quite severely bruised at the end of it but Ahmed seemed to have sustained more injuries. Ahmed left to get some treatment for his injuries and did not return that night so Ibrahim guarded the estate alone.
The next day cement was delivered in a container and offloaded. Ibrahim worked alone with the driver and labourers to offload the container even though he was in so much pain after the fight the day before. The driver dropped both the cement and the container and departed. Two days later which was four days since the fight, Ahmed had still not returned. The other alternate group of guards were expected to come and take over from Ibrahim that morning but they did not come and Ibrahim could not leave until he had someone to hand over to. Around 10am that morning however, a bunch of people turned up and started shouting at Ibrahim about the fight he had with Ahmed. They overpowered him and locked him in the container. He didn’t understand why and he couldn’t do anything about it so he just stayed calm and waited. A couple of hours later the people returned with the police who informed him that Ahmed had died. This was devastating news as it meant he was now involved in a murder case. They took him to the Minna State CID for one week and then charged him to the Magistrate’s court.
He was held in custody for four years before he was convicted. During that time his wife visited him in prison regularly. She was distraught and fell sick with stress unable to cope without his support. Even before he was convicted and sentenced to death in 2019, Amina died, overwhelmed with the hopelessness of their situation and leaving their three children, aged 14, 10 and 6 years to be cared for by his aged mum in Kano. His younger brother assists his mother with the expense of maintaining and educating their three children.
Currently on death row, Ibrahim is full of regret with the way his life which held so much promise has turned out. When he came to Abuja, he expected to achieve so much and give his children a better life than he had. He had a happy childhood living with his loving parents and eight siblings. He had wanted his children to have that and more. For them, he had hoped for the education he lacked. But for a quick temper and an ill-advised fight, he may just have realised his dreams.
