Chapter 4

(Body lying on the floor, considerations on hospital nearby to take the body too) 

“He may not survive the results of what he had done; in as much as I still don’t believe that the victim didn’t do anything wrong”. The principal told the senior prefect. 

It has been reported that a student was given a huge blow before night prep in hostel C2. The victim is lying on the floor with a huge wound and blood rushing out. All the students were at the refectory eating when the event happened. The principal had also given instructions that the case is suspended till the victim will be able to gosh out words before further actions will be taken. 

A few minutes later, the boy had been taken to hospital, while investigations were still on when the classmates of Daniel reported to the senior prefect that Daniel was not around till the end of the meal. Therefore, much scrutiny should be done on his way about after he had left. 

The next day, Daniel had already been summoned before the whole school. Teachers and students never believed a new student just on his second day as a seminarian had done such a thing. All are waiting in anticipation to hear from the principal. Meanwhile, some students have already started shouting expel!! Expel! The expel chants were coming from a small group of about 40 students standing at the end right of the big hall. Amongst them were Sanjo and Solomon whose nickname was a kettle, the two being present at that end of the hall were enough to conclude that the group must be a group of bad gangs. 

“Quiet!!! Quiet!!! Quiet!!!” exclaimed the principal whose face was nothing to write home about. He is in his lion's mood looking for who to devour amongst the students. 

Immediately, the hall was quiet to the point that an atom of noise can implicate the noise maker. Holding his wires which the students referred to as the road of Moses, the principal walked around for about 4 minutes with eyes wide open to get an escaped goat. However, even the notorious boys knew that even the principal’s wife may not survive the wrath if gotten too. 

“Irrespective of your tribe, you're makeup your origin, your identity, and whose seed you are, if you end up being the reason behind the act, you are doomed!!” the principal yells out at the top of his voice. The students can even feel the vexation in his words. 

******* 

Principal: we have tolerated a lot of bullying in this citadel of learning. We have endured and withheld back a lot of strategies that may harm the furthering of your academics in this country. We value respect between the lower-class students and the senior students, we adhere to the promotion of obedience, and we are in full support of sanity and cool understanding of your reason for being in this seminary. However, you all have taken our silence as a weak point but today with the few examples that will be used, you all will take caution. 

(A student was pushed to the front of the hall; the principal couldn’t hesitate to ask what the student was doing while the announcement was going on)

Within a few seconds, the principal is already bouncing on the young boy, kickboxing and shouting at him. The boy may not recover from such a brutal hit from the principal in the next week. Very obvious that he deserved such uncontrolled anger from m the head of the school.

At the end of the drilling of the young boy, everywhere was as silent as the graveyard. Then er words flew out from the principal and all the students responded with a chorus of “Yes Sir”. Then the principal faced Daniel who has been standing in front of the whole students. 

“This young boy here will ever live with regrets from this day on; he may not recover from such a day as this as he has gone beyond his imagination into reality by expressing his inherent wickedness in the life of his fellow student; he has taken not just ordinary law but heavier laws into his hands and this alone can jeopardize and terminate his unseen and untapped destiny”. The principal muttered with sweats all over his face. 

“The wages of sin should have been generally confirmed as death had it been that the victim ended up losing his life but since there are lesser but unfriendly punishments for each offense, we won’t hesitate to unleash the heaviest of them on him; I Mr. Pope will ensure he spends his life in agony within few years am alive; (he raises one of his arms), I stand for justice!!!” he moves backward(Soon a thick chorus of words arose from the same corner of notorious boys) 

“We stand for Justice!! We stand for Justice!! We stand for Justice!!”. 

Another unfamiliar sound with few voices but clear words arose from the middle of the crowd, in between the Ss1 and Jss 3 students chanting.

“Mercy!! Mercy!! Mercy!!!”. It was later confirmed it was from their classmate of Daniel who was at this time in a state of dilemma, some were saying we wouldn’t have reported, and some were saying he should be given chance to talk. 

For up to 15 minutes, the chants were getting loud and thicker till the voices of the notorious boys overshadowed that of the young boys. Not known to many that the senior boys had entered amid the junior boys and threatened both with written words and signals to deal with them if they don’t stop their chants. 

The principal soon summoned all the teachers with the dean on stage to reassure them his potential actions himself as accurate, after a discussion, they all agreed to give him a chance to explain to the students what happened. 

“Hello, boys!! Can we have a silence as the order now??”. Mr. Pope exclaimed.

Immediately, the students responded well and there was a thick silence principal signaledDaniel to come over and talk to the students.

(At first, Daniel couldn’t utter any word, he was silent for some minutes, fear had gripped him and he was shivering.)

He looked up and it was as if the law of Karma was with him and his eyes hit up with that of Shola and he could see from the deep eyes of Shola and his facial movements the need to utter words quickly if he must be free. 

(Principal approaches him, put his hands on his shoulder)

“Students, it’s very clear to you all that we don’t need many arguments to conclude on the necessary punishments for this young boy”. 

As he was about to continue, Daniel shouted out in a loud voice 

“Noooo!!!” 

“I have a lot to say”. Daniel exclaimed too.

Another chant from the ss1 boys was heard as loud as never before.

“Voice out!! Voice out!!! Voice out!!!!”. 

“Quiet!!!”. From the principal.

Daniel was whispered from behind by the dean to be bold. He made it clear to him that none have concluded on him. He can save himself from potential detention in the future the dean told him to. 

“I was about to drop my plate after drinking my mixture of biscuits and milk when unfortunately I noticed I wasn’t alone in the hostel as I  thought; a boy came out from a corner and dropped a letter before me; when I opened the letter, I saw what I never expected to see in a seminary”. 

(The whole students shouted goooooo!!!)

Daniel continued; the letter has it that I have been given just a week to make a full commitment to one of the fraternities in the seminary or else I will be terminated or frustrated; I tore the letter not wanting to read the suggestion of the best fraternity for me as suggested in the letter. Immediately after I tore the letter, I witnessed another encounter I would never have accepted to be existing in a seminary.

The young man brought out a sharp pen knife and insisted he will give me a mark that the pain will push me to the wall and then will help fasten my decision towards the unsolicited invitation. Not long he finished his words and he used the knife on me my back as I escaped his first attempt of his. The agony and pain then led me to fling my fist on him and that was how he got the injury having hit his face on one of the springs. 

There was silence all over the hall as Daniel ended his words with a question. 

“Is this a seminary dear principal?”. 

(Murmuring became the order of the crowd and soon another chant)

“Lie!! He is a liar!! Lie!! He just lied!!”. This came from the notorious boys.

After a few minutes, the principal took Daniel towards a corner and was in a more sad mood when he saw the wound on Daniel's back. He then took Daniel back to the front of the students and opened his back towards the students and there was a loud cry of pity on the boy Daniel. The teachers who were of the feminine order couldn’t hold their tears and concluded within themselves that the wound must have made him not talk when he was required to air out his part of the scenario. 

He must have been in pain. They concluded the more.

The confirmation of the wound also brought shame to the notorious gangs as their faces were seen downwards and the principal who had headed towards that area was dishing out words from his tantrum-occupied heart. He also questioned the importance of the senior students in the school citing that they have been a misnomer compared to past sets who had graduated from the seminary. 

“We won’t take any further step on this case, it is very much obvious that more verifications and investigations must be made on this case, we are trusting God to help us come out with the right attitude and response to this anathema; the management of the seminary will ensure that the best of decisions and actions are taken and the image of the seminary fully protected; for now, we will take Daniel to the same hospital as the victim and when they both recover, we will take necessary actions”. The principal made it understandable to the students. He also instructed that no crumb of this case should be disseminated to any outsider as Tuesday being the next day is always used as bible study day with the villagers.

The students echoed “Yes Sir while some echoed Yes boss” as they disperse from the hall. 

   Some students were making dramatic actions out of the scenes while some entered into serious arguments tugging if the boy Daniel was met with a letter coming from the fact that he is a new student. None is even arguing if the cultist acts were true because they all know that cults are many in the seminary but who among them would even think of reaching out to a new student. 

While all the group assemblies of junior students were ongoing, the geriatric boys of ss3 went to the field for their strong football match with ss2. The last time the two classes played, two students were expelled because of a brutal gang fight. The ss2 team since their Ss1 has never lost a match to any class. This is as a result of their good performance which they many always referred to as Tiki-Taka style. They are the most harmonious team. On the other part, the ss3 plays well but is more brutal in their football. They are the real owners of miss ball and don’t miss leg.

The past match between the two was referred to by the students as the Classico, while some said it was a clash of the Titans. The match had been going well before one of the ss3 students had a horrible tackle on the best player of the ss2 class which led to his change. From thence, the match turned to a wrestling royal rumble. It took the intervention of the sports master who happens to be a senior priest in the Anglican church to stop the match. Even to the point of fatigue, the players never gave up as they were each aiming to win the match. The sports Master had to enter the pitch and stopped the match by himself and in the end, it didn't take the ss3 much time to start using their ss3 authority to ask the ss2 to fetch water for their birth. At the end of that day, the night prep was empty for the two classes as some of them went to bed straight.