Written June 19, 2012
Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem
We just came back from Awo Hall Mosque - Ajiferuke, others and I. We were yet to settle down in our room in Block 7, Medical Floor, when some brothers came to report that another Muslim brother was facing a 'trial' in Awo Hall Café in the hands of Awo Boys.
Awo Boys – those filthy and lousy boys, famous for their unruly acts in the name of 'aroism' (a sheer display of maddening attitudes). So also was their maximum shi-shi where they do beat other students 'guilty' of crimes which they themselves are not free from. [One of them was imprisoned recently as a result of visiting an act of 'maximum shi-shi' on another student. In that happening, the student was burned with a pressing iron on his back on the claim that he was 'guilty' of a 'serious offence']. They do boo and jeer at passers-by too especially the female students. Muslim sisters are not spared of their nauseating pangs. I could remember the day some of them booed a sister in Niqâb, from Block 1 – that notorious block where evil boys used to reside. That fateful day, the arrow-head of the booing was carried shoulder-high by some hefty Muslim brothers to Awo Hall Mosque and was tutored on good manners.
That also reminds me of the Mojo Crisis! The crisis, 2006 or thereabout, that put the Muslim students ahead of the boys. In the event, the Muslim students put a stop to the act of viewing phonographic movies every Friday of the week in the Common Room of Awo Hall of Residence. It all started in a night, the boys put up a fight by stoning the mosque, the Muslim students mounted a formidable defence – it was a sort of a 'defensive Jihad' because the Muslim honour was at stake. There was a ceasefire after which the battle of missiles – stone-throwing resumed in the following morning. It raged on for about three hours The Muslim students stood their ground and victory was theirs. The Awo Boys will never forget that day.
So the brothers told us another brother was facing an ordeal in the hands of the boys. This event was very much after the Mojo Crisis earlier mentioned, it was in 2008. The 'accused' brother had gone to the Common Room of Angola Hall which is regarded as the sub-unit of the Awo Hall in terms of student 'governance' to watch TV. A difference over which channel to watch led to a confrontation between the brother and another student. The brother, a Pharmacy student, allegedly slapped the student who in turn gave the Muslim brother a beating of his life such that he left him in a coma. The brother was revived and the matter was taken to the 'court' of the Awo Hall Boys who later gave the 'verdict' that the Muslim brother should be given seven strokes of the belt on his buttocks. His offence? That he was the first to hit the other student! The standing rule in the 'unwritten constitution' of the Awo Boys, they claimed, is that whoever among the students first hit the another student is guilty prima facie so he will bear the heaviest brunt. The other student in the case was to be given three strokes.
So I was to salvage the brother from the hands of Awo Boys. It was a herculean task that must be carried out.
The brother was on the verge of being administered the 'sentence' when we arrived there - Awo Hall Café, their parliament and court. The boys were about two hundred or more. They gave way as we entered their midst – we were about four brothers, just four brothers! Abu Khadeejah – from Abeokuta – was our 'bodyguard.'
Then they gave us an audience. I introduced myself, I had to, because that was the lingo they understood. 'My name is … LL.B Part Five!' They understood what that meant. The shout of 'Iwe! Iwe! Iwe!' instantly rented the air. One of them – I think an official of the Student Union – gave the summary of what had transpired. I was looking for loopholes in his presentation – yes we were trained in our profession to look for loopholes, that is why I abhor the profession and never plan to practise it in a real life even for a day [Allaahuma thabbitnee].
I got a loophole and announced to them that there had not been a 'fair trial'. 'There must be a re-trial!' I sounded authoritative. I also told them the scene of the incident must be visited and witnesses be brought. 'There could have been a provocation,' I tried to rein in on them, among other legalese. Awo Boys were not ready for all that. They began to protest, making all sorts of noise. How noisy they were! But we remained undaunted and were looking for what else to do. All of a sudden Aboo Khadeejah began to pull the 'accused' brother along, he was leading him out of the café and we followed him. 'You can't take him away!' Awo Boys began to protest. We were going yet they were shouting 'No!' Awo Hall Mosque was not far away, our aim was if we could get to the mosque then that was all. The mosque was supposed to be a sanctuary. We were going and they were following us in a very fast pace. Just four of us yet they could not stop us. We managed to get to the mosque entrance then the brother was taken inside.
At that, the Awo Boys formed an 'attack force'. A replay of Mojo Crisis was about to occur. We too mounted a 'defence line,' by then, other brothers had come around. Ibrahim theAfricanSalafee (he is here on FB) was around too doing the 'battle officer'.
Yet we came to an agreement that there should be another negotiation, there in front of Awo Hall Mosque. We started the negotiation, then suddenly one of them yelled at me by pointing his finger at me while I was standing armresting on the pillar of the walkway to the Upper Reading Room, 'You this Afa, you fu..d up.' I took on him verbally and gave the final 'verdict' that there was no 'trial' again. Case closed! They shouted and yelled again, and when they got tired, they left. That was the end of the show.
We later counselled the 'accused' brother against watching TV whether in the Common Room or otherwise.
[You might want to say it was 'Another Haraki Level' perhaps it was].
