Abel and Amina won the couple of the year on campus. They were conflicting in many areas yet they had a very beautiful relationship.

Abel was introverted while Amina was extroverted. Amina was gregarious; a party mover, while Abel had just two friends, his third friend was his books.

Abel was Christian while Amina was Muslim. Abel was from the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria while Amina was from the Hausa tribe. They were a total mismatch.

However, they grew up together in one of the rural areas of Ibadan city. Their affection sprung from when they were very little. Their parents were only semiliterates. It was fun for Amina to trouble Abel when they were younger.

Amina's parents were of the middle-class but they were still richer than Abel's. No one expected the two to become lovers but when they became lovers, their parents were not against it.
Chukwu was one of the students in Abel's department at the university. The two were the top students in their department. They were always at loggerheads. Though Abel had no issues with Chukwu, Chukwu disliked him and he did showed it.

Kabir was one of the students in Amina's department. He had always admired her despite knowing her relationship with Abel. He hated seeing her all over Abel. He wondered what she liked about Abel. To Kabir, he was a better suitor for Amina; they were both Muslims and Hausas.

The death of one of Abel's two friends affected him a great deal. His friend had been killed in a shootout between EFCC officials and some cyber criminals in his neighborhood.

Abel had been long depressed before Amina knew. He used to keep to himself a lot. It also took her days before knowing what exactly he was going through. She had thought it was all about his late friend.

Abel was going to resit a course. He was going to pay another school fee to resit just that course. One of Abel's lecturers had required an email submission of their continuous assessment but Abel's submission remained in his drafts. He tried submitting but it never went and he was unaware. It was past the deadline before he noticed. The lecturer turned a deaf ear to his pleas and Abel decided not to sit for the exam too.

Amina did all she could to make Abel smile. She also made Abel's elder sister, Joanna, speak to him. Amina also promised to pay his tuition fee for the course he would be resitting. She knew how seriously Abel had maintained his first class. Abel did became cheerful again.

Some weeks after the issue was resolved, Joanna dreamt of Abel killing himself so Abel was summoned home. When he got home, his family did all they could to know if something was worrying him but he said he was doing well. Joanna related the dream to him but he insisted that he had no reason to take his own life. Being a religious family, all they could do was to observe fasting and prayer for him. Abel was to observe his at school since he was still busy with school work.

Abel did not observe the fast as Amina advised – his health was not good enough and she would not watch his health deteriorate. Amina decided to join him in prayer instead.

Just five days into the fasting and prayer, Abel was returning home, which was off-campus, when Chukwu knocked him down with his car. Abel was immediately rushed to the hospital but he ended up in coma.

Chukwu was arrested by the police but he kept saying he was innocent. He claimed Abel was carried away and jumped into the road. Abel's remaining friend, Mike, and the rest of their mates refused to believe Chukwu. Why was it Chukwu of all people? The same Chukwu who hated him.

Joanna convinced her parents that Chukwu might be true since Abel was depressed at the time, coupled with the dream she had. And the fact that Abel did not even observe the fast. Their parents gave in. They believed it was a suicidal attempt and Chukwu was released on bail.

However, Amina insisted that it was a murder attempt. She insisted that Chukwu intentionally knocked down her lover. She was certain Abel had gotten over his depression and that the fast was not supposed to be assumed to be the cause of his death. Still, Abel's parents insisted they could not punish Chukwu when they were not certain about what really happened. They decided to wait till Abel gets conscious.

Amina decided to do all she could to prove herself right. She asked people in the area if they had witnessed the accident but none claimed to have. However, one night, a certain guy made a deal with her via a phone call; she would pay him first and he would send her a video of Chukwu knocking Abel down with his car. Amina knew it could be a scam but she was so desperate. She paid the anonymous guy and he sent her a video. In the video sent, Chukwu deliberately sped up his car and knocked Abel down by the road. The video scared Amina.

Chukwu was rearrested and shown the incriminating evidence of his deliberate attempt to kill Abel. Chukwu could no longer deny his intention to take Abel's life. He claimed Abel had always been a step above him and it was a problem for him. Chukwu's elder siblings had always been the best from primary school through tertiary education and his parents were expecting the same from him. They had always sung it in his ears that he must not ruin the legacy. Abel had however been a great hindrance and he had to do something.

A lot of the students believed him. Even Chukwu's parents knew he was right and they regretted their actions but Chukwu's close friends, Ebuka and Simon, were far from believing him. They knew Chukwu showed his animosity for Abel but he never really hated him. He was only always worried about what his family would say and how much they would be disappointed if he let them down. They also knew he was the reason their lecturer turned a deaf ear to Abel's pleas, but going as far as trying to kill Abel was not a thing Chukwu would willingly do.

Ebuka and Simon started looking into what could have happened. They went through Chukwu's things; his computer system, smartphone, journal and notes. Everything! The only odd thing they discovered was his incessant contact with Kabir.

Why was he in contact with Kabir?

The two friends asked Chukwu what his business with Kabir was and he had no convincing reply. They knew Kabir was close to Amina so they talked with Amina.

“We are afraid Chukwu is only trying to shoot himself in the foot. This looks like he's trying to kill himself.”

Amina chuckled. “People thought Abel's was a suicidal attempt but I proved that it was a murder attempt. Now you think Chukwu's planning suicide for himself?”

“Exactly.”

“Why would he do that though?”

“We're lost on that too.”

Amina did not know what to think. She also wondered what relationship Chukwu had with Kabir. Or could he have asked Chukwu to kill Abel? Why? Wait!

Amina became uncalm. She knew Kabir liked her and she was not blind to the hatred in his eyes whenever he saw Abel.
The next thing Amina did was relate her suspicion to Chukwu's friends. However, it was baseless.

Ebuka and Simon visited Chukwu at the police station and asked if Kabir had coerced him into doing it. Chukwu said it was complete balderdash. He insisted that he intentionally did it.

Chukwu's friends related this to the police officers and they also tried all they could to make him speak. They assured him of his safety if Kabir threatened him but he insisted that Kabir knew nothing of the matter. Chukwu's friends told his parents and they also tried to make him speak to no avail.

Abel regained consciousness and everyone was so glad. He was however to use a walking support for some weeks.

When Abel heard the whole story about Chukwu, he did not know what to think. Amina said her intuition was telling her it was Kabir. He had become closer since Abel was unconscious and had been indirectly confessing his love. Amina had kept talking about Abel in his presence and that topic had always infuriated him. To Amina, Kabir must have used Chukwu because he knew everyone would believe that Chukwu did it.

Amina confronted Kabir with the issue but he completely denied knowing anything of the matter. He swore with Medina, Allah and the holy land. Kabir said he only disliked Abel because he was a hindrance to his love life. Amina stopped when Kabir's words became more convincing.

However, a week to Chukwu's trial in the court of law, Ebuka and Simon came up with something valid; an evidence sound enough to get Kabir arrested. The two friends had bugged Kabir's apartment and had recorded him speak of Amina's suspicion of his using Chukwu while on a phone call with a certain Mustapha.

Why on earth did Chukwu refuse to spill the truth then? Was he really planning a suicide for himself?

Chukwu teared up. He was only trying hard to keep it in. He cried, “Kabir is a demon! I'm not safe. No one is safe!”

“What do you mean?”

“He kidnapped me and threatened me. He knows every single thing about me and my family. He knows every single damn thing about my friends! He was ready to take everything away from me! He has men out there! Mustapha inclusive!”

Kabir's father, popularly called Baba n Kano, was an influential man who fought anyone oppressing the Hausas or Muslims. He had five wives and over a dozen children. From what Amina knew about him, if Kabir was a demon then his father was infact a bigger demon. Baba n Kano got Kabir's bail and the next thing everyone heard about Kabir was his death; he was said to have fallen off the stairs.

Nana, a maid in Kabir's house, stated on a blog that it was suicide. Kabir's father had decided to give him to the wild hounds he was keeping and Kabir had chosen the best way of dying out of the millions he knew.

If that was true about Kabir, no one really knew.

© Imole Olusanya