Undesirable Element

Billy was my role model, i learned art/craft from him and Joel the pilot of the family taught me how to be a man, growing up with two elder brothers who motivated everyone that came across them was my main source of inspiration and perhaps cultivated the zeal to be a successful man in me at a tender age. I always woke up by 3am every morning and escorted our mother to the newspaper publishing firm to pick up her papers, Mummy sold papers along the street and that was where the family’s daily bread came from. Our Dad died when i was just five years so my two elder brother Billy and Joel were simply the Father i knew.

Our mother was hardworking and family oriented perhaps she would have been a man because single highhandedly, she was able to raise three young boys and molded them into men but what the undesirable elements in the society offered my family for our hard work and dedications was something i would never forget until my last breath but like Joel would always say “Life goes on”.

Billy chose the world of craft because that was where he was gifted and with no formal craftsman training, he excelled and was a well known craft man in the city, his works sold better than most imported craft works and he made sure that all he did was unique, he had dreams and high ambitions.

BILLY DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST...

Joel joined the police service immediately after college and was a dedicated police officer, a no nonsense disciplinarian perhaps that was why his colleagues gave him the nick name Perfect.

I joined the Police service because of Joel but before joining the force, i learned most techniques in craft and was equally good in the field but the kind of respect and admiration my brother Joel commanded among even people i do not know but always stop me along the way to tell me how good a policeman my brother was motivated me to join the force.

I could remember one day when coming back from school and a total stranger approached me and asked me to thank Joel for him for saving his life and that of his family when they were held hostage by gunmen and in his words “If there will be more policemen like him, this world will be free of criminals”.This word was actually what motivated me to join the force.

Everything that happen in life has a purpose and only God knows why things even bitter and sorrowful things happen to good people, we all planned to attend the wedding together but i didn’t feel well that morning and was called for duty so i decided to answer the call then Joel left in the company of Billy, two of our cousins and Linda his fiance but three hours after they left, i got a distress call from a colleague that there was a robbery at the M1 intersection.

Bandits had blocked the road and were robbing the motorists, the police department lacks the basic manpower to respond to the situation because many a time, hoodlums had overpowered the Police but people like my brother Joel are those who make things happen, he is what a Police man is meant to be and he always say that “in the course of duty and trying to do the right thing, one might end up losing his life” but that did not stopped him from being at the attack of criminal elements and defense of the innocent citizens.

Joel was a fighter and fought all criminals with the determination to clean up the society and free mankind from those that terrorize us during the day and night in our offices,schools,church, mosques and in our homes.

I was surprised when i got to the station and saw his car parked in front of the forensic department but to my wildest imagination, all that came to my mind was that he either dropped off others at the wedding and drove to the station because of the robbery though he was off duty but it was always his desire to assist whenever it calls for.

But one thing was clear, the faces of all our colleagues had messages for me but i didn’t understand the look and the tears in their eyes, i saw the deputy on tears and the station was silent like a funeral parlor but it didn’t take time for me to hear the breaking news.

“Joel ran into armed bandits and was killed”.

“What about the others with him?” i asked

“They were all killed”

According to eyewitnesses, Joel sensed the situation because M1 was a busy high way and there is always no traffic jam on it except if there was an accident but it was clear that morning that the men of the underworld was operating, he decided to reverse and drive back to safety but they noticed him reversed his car so they chased him down and caught up with them and dragged him out of the car.

42 bullets for reversing his car and to make matters worse, all the occupants of the vehicle were shot at and after executing my brothers and their occupants, the thieves made away with two stolen vehicles.

Four members of our family killed the same day and two cars stolen while no one else hurt.

How will our mother cope with this?

The death of Joel and Billy left her a depressed woman, she could not even look at their corpse during the funeral but thanks to prayers of our loved ones and the support we got from friends, she accepted the fact that God knows why but to me, there was something more to it but i have to carry on and will always be an outstanding police officer just like my brother Joel, i will never resort to any form of intimidation and will always bring criminals to justice like he did.

I swore upon his casket with tears to be upright and to carry out my duty with dignity and utmost honesty but above all to make sure that whoever had hand in his death was brought to justice

The circumstances surrounding their deaths led to a swift investigation and a country wide manhunt led to the capture of Douglas Brooks, a known gang leader whose gang Joel helped the Police destabilized and fifty prominent citizens were arrested, business men and politicians indicted in fraud, drug trafficking and murder, the evidences provided by Joel was enough to send all the men and women arrested to long jail terms but they felt that his elimination will alter justice, it wasn’t a day light robbery on M1 intersection but a hit on Joel for his role in the arrest of Senator Mac Arthur Nice and his gang.

There are so many criminals parading in our mists as Policemen, Politicians, Business leaders, Relatives and good Citizens but no one will hide in a dirty shekel forever and those like Senator Mac Arthur Nice who ordered the execution of Joel will always be brought to Justice because the saying “Every day for the thieves but one day for the owner” is real and true and for those who camouflage as loved ones but are really hypocrites like our cousin Barth who sold out Joel, take it from me that “it is only a fool who remains thirsty in the abundance of water”

Senator Mac Arthur Nice

Douglas Brooks

Barth Anthony

Emily Carmine

John Macintosh

Mary Adams

Indris Brogue

Julie Anderson

Mike Morris

Barrister Tim Jonson

“The above individuals are found guilty for the murder of Constable Joel Anthony and are hereby sentenced to death by hanging”.

That was the verdict, the Judge's voice after three months of my family’s eagerness and restlessness for justice. You see; no matter what happens, Justice will always prevail and darkness cannot in any situation overpower Light.

Michael