The eastern region of Nigeria is enriched with natural resources with good soil that is good for cultivation. The various tribes in the region speak a common language called Igbo. The
people are warm and welcoming. As time past by, crime broke into the streets. Young boys preferred to steal and kill to make money instead of going to school. Parents worshiped money and wanted their children to outstand in the society no matter the means. Moral ethics crumbled. The young girls managed to pass through the high school by engaging in various forms of examination malpractices. Many flirt around sleeping with criminals, fraud stars, drug barons, ritual killers and so on to make money. Things got so bad that people could no longer sleep at night because the neighbourhoods were highly terrorized by professional criminal every night. The major roads were populated by bag snatcher and armature criminals who were looking for little money to buy crack and Indian herbs. Bank robbery increased and ritual killings were common during festive period. Things got out of hand and there was need to seek fast solution.
The government tried using the police force to combat crime but instead the police liaised with the criminals. They provided them with ammunitions and took some share of their loots. Innocent citizens became victims of the police. They were paraded as the criminals and some were eventual shot to death without trials. The government spent so much money equipping the police but they did not improve since they were highly corrupt. This led to the formation of the largest vigilante group ever in the region called the Black Eagles.
Black Eagles were young single men up to the age of twenty one that volunteered to join the cult. There were no other criteria to select members. Most of the applicants were formal criminals that had shed blood and so were not scared of scared of taking a human life even if it was their own family member. Also they had experience for the job because they understood the operations of criminals. After they were initiated into the cult, charms were given to them to hang on their neck and wrist. With it, they could turn to thin air and disappear when surrounded by criminals who had high spiritual strength to challenge them. They were all warned to keep away from spiritual impurities such as sex, hard drugs and any form of corruption because it will weaken their charms. Any member that goes against any of the rules and regulation of the cult must die mysteriously. Black Eagles were greatly feared and praised by everyone because they fought crime and brought peace back to the region.
Most duties of the police such as detection, arresting and execution of criminals without trial were handled by the Black Eagles. They patrolled round the region in groups with each member armed with a short machine gun and a sword. Criminals were detected by their shiny steel blade of their sword. When the blade turns black, it signifies the presence of a criminal that had not shed blood. Then they will stop every vehicle and passersby to search. During the search, each member of the black eagle will place his sword on the chest of a suspect. If the sword begins to vibrate, it means that person is a criminal. The punishment for such criminals that had never shed blood was to cut off one of their hands after they had confessed guilty. Then they are forced to carry the hand and pose for the press to snap and record. Ritual killers and armed robbers who had shed blood were detected by the sword turning bloody red. Such culprits were executed at the spot if the person was not a popular person in the society. Popular culprits were detained and their execution fixed on a weekend at a popular road junction to enable people to make out time to come and watch it. The press and the general public were informed early enough to create enough awareness. If the culprit is related to any of the Black Eagles, that member will lead the execution. The culprit is stripped naked and asked to confess. After confessing guilty, he or she is butchered into pieces. First, the hands will be cut off followed by the legs and the head. The parts are gathered together around the trunk and burnt with fuel and condemned car tyres. The main idea of public execution was to discourage people from going into crime.
The formation of the Black Eagles led to the migration of many criminals to other parts of the country such as Lagos. At that time, Lagos witnessed a high rate of criminal cases. The east became calm and people began to live freely without fears. The black Eagles were heavily paid by the government. They never touched politicians and government officials despite the fact that many of them had shed blood through blood rituals or by killing their opponents and members of campaign groups who were threats to them just to win elections.
Within one year, crime seized and the activity of the Black Eagles reduced. There was hardly news of their operations anymore because they had killed all criminal apart from the lucky ones that managed to escape. The government honoured and paid them off and the police resumed their normal operation in a serene environment. The government stripped off their arms and gave them to the police force. This was done because the government estimated the money spent on the Black Eagles in one year to be greater than the budget for the police force in two years.
Black Eagle men retired to their normal lives again. The money they were paid was sufficient to change their lives forever. Many of them bought houses and expensive cars to show off in public. Some became addicted to hard drugs and womanized greatly as before. Soon, many became broke because they did not invest the money they were paid wisely. They called a meeting in which they decided to ask the government to pay them regular allowances for the rest of their lives. Many of them knew they could not patiently invest in business and so could only rely on fast and easy money. The government objected explaining that it is the police that are entitled to life time pension because they are true responsibility of the government. The matter was finally resolved by the government releasing another huge some of money to settle the ex-Black Eagles for the last time. This time, they got more than they were earlier paid. This was done to make peace reign. Then they were advised by the government to look for something to invest the money in or go to school to obtain degrees.
One truth is that no amount of money given to greedy people such as criminals will be sufficient for them. Many of the ex-Black Eagles formed various gangs. They combined money to import sophisticated arms and went back into professional highway and bank robbery. Police men were seen running into hidings to pull off their uniforms. They did this to conceal their identities each time robbery operations were taking place. On many incidences, the gangs attacked and killed policemen on duty. They also invaded police stations and everybody fled including the clumsy pot bellied police officers. The region became unsafe once again with crime returning back into the streets with full force.
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