So, a police man came
to me and said that it is time for me to enter the cell. He grasped me by the
waist and dragged me to the gate, opened it, and just when he was about throwing
me into the police cell, another police officer immediately approached and
stated telling him something. I couldn’t hear him clearly, but I guess I heard
something like: “Don’t put him, in there.”
I smiled within me,
knowing God was at work. Immediately, I was taken back to the position I was
before I was moved by the policeman. I was just there settled, observing the whole
scene which to me was funny. I watched the police woman as she was acting so
strange. I was wondering how polluted and uncultured a woman could be all in
the name of being in the police force. To be frank, there was just no atom of
pity from her; the woman in her was dead already. She just did not care, no,
not at all. To her, it was a normal thing.
I sat with the drunk who was snoring heavily alongside two ladies that were also sleeping on
the floor. I do not know what their crime was, but they looked like people who
were conversant with all the display. I couldn’t sleep because the whole place smelled
badly. My elder brother had arrived the scene but he wasn’t allowed to take me
out. It was almost one plus PM, and I was still with the police. It was as if
we could no longer go for the competition again. I was unhappy because of the
efforts injected into the work. How could everything just be a waste?
Not long after, Ayenabua
Joseph and Joshua Kprake had arrived as well. Joseph Ayebanua, who loved the
legal profession like his father’s job had started quoting laws and arguing
with the policemen as if he was mooting already. For the policemen, it was
noise making, so they shunned and kept him in from talking much. They asked him
to stay far from the premises. Kprake on
the other hand did not stop. The CLASFON president was a funny young man, quite
subtle and clever. Somehow he was able to calm them down and not long, I was
released.
“Go, you get luck. Just
thank this small boy. I like the way em talk. If ney be for him, you for see,”
they said, as I was allowed to leave.
Kprake was a young man
in his early twenties. He gave them no dime for the release. I knew that it
wasn’t Kprake that did it, but God that had intervened. I told him that fact as
we were walking back to the school premises. Well, he didn’t argue about it.
I went back to the school without my laptops.
They had kept the devices in the station, claiming that they will be released when
I show a proof ownership. I wondered how I could do that because I had
misplaced the receipt.
Getting to the school, it
was a different ball game entirely. Kprake had kicked against our going to
Anambra State. He had maintained that there were enough signs to show that the
journey will not be fruitful. He related us to his key that was missing when he
was about coming to meet us, and just when he was about intimidating us about
it, he received the news of my arrest. He also spoke about a dream that he had.
There was an intense
argument for and against our going. His parents had even called, warning that
we shouldn’t go for the journey. The tension was so much. But I was calm. I never
believed any of those. To me, I believed the Devil perhaps was fighting against
our going to Anambra State. I had to calm Kprake down and explained some facts
to him. I told him of the hard work we had injected into the task, and that it wasn’t
wise for us to back out so soon. After a long chain of convincing statements,
he agreed to go. But as a Christian president that he was, he requested that we
pray fervently before leaving, which we did.
It was morning and we
began the journey to the east. It was my second national assignment and I was a
bit calm. At least I never had the pressure of advocating. We had to make use
of Joseph’s laptop for the task since my laptops were with the police. We
struggled with the drafting of the court processes because we were novices to
court procedures. But luckily for us, we met a young lawyer who boosted our
confidence by helping us with some tips.
Soon, we arrived
Anambra State. We were welcomed by the host school and taken to our Hotel room.
We continued our drafting as we had a lot to cover. Kprake was full of fears
because he knew nothing of what was going on. Sometimes he had to sit on the
floor thinking of the mess life had given him. Who will blame him? This wasn’t
moot, it was mock, and he was just about getting mocked.
I had to encourage him,
but that was not good enough. Around 10:00 Pm, we were called for a pre-trial
conference. It was so frustrating because that was the first time we were
hearing about that or maybe we have, but not really in details. There was panic
among us as to what the conference was all about. I guess we wanted to put a
call across but there was no time because the organizers had started already.
“Na which one be
pre-trial conference again na?,” someone asked.
“How I wan take know?,”
replied Joseph.
Kprake was about going
mad; the falling of hand was just too
big. To us all, our doom was already spelt out. At a point we picked ourselves
to the venue for the mighty falling of
hand. We were late already arriving the venue which was down stair. Getting
to the venue, I observed that it was nothing serious. It was just a normal talk
show. We were relieved whilst casting our minds back to our worries. We picked
our lot, and we were to contest against the Nnamdi Azikwe University, which
fortunately and unfortunately for us, was the host.
We returned to our
hotel room and continued drafting after receiving the writ of summons,
affidavit, statement of claims and other processes from them. But for lack of
electricity, we submitted our processes almost in the morning period. But the Nnamdi
Azikwe had played a trick on us. They deposed to facts far different from what
was stated in the case facts. Facts were not to be presumed in moot so we were
using almost what we’ve got in the first facts to argue. But with what we saw,
we had to re-strategize. We worked throughout the whole night. I and Joseph
didn’t sleep. As for Ebizi, she had no business with night. She was sleeping
heavily. I was full of wonders as to how she was able to keep a high first
class grade considering her sleeping rate. Getting some of the processes in our
hands, we kept contact with Hezekiah Ozungu, our former Moot and Mock trial
Committee chairman. He kept giving us clues on how to tackle the issues before
us. He was of great help to us.
The next day was the
day of the competition. We got prepared and entered the moot court room. Three
judges were before us. Kprake though afraid was still was the lead-counsel. To
him, it was suicide, but what can he do? He had no choice. The Nnamdi Azikwe
team started by arguing, being the plaintiffs in the case. We raised a
preliminary objection which succeeded. This pulled the legs of our opponents. However,
they argued about our memorandum of appearance on the ground of technicality,
but the court allowed the matter to continue since technicality cannot defeat
justice. At a point, Kprake was short of words. He started speaking all manner
of rubbish which the judge didn’t hear. The judge was like: “What did you say?”
Kprake will be like: “My
Lord, blab la blu legal thing here”.
For me, I knew we were
already finished. Kprake had killed us already. But the argument went on. The
judges felt his voice was tiny. But that’s was not the case, our man was simply
expressing hell.
On and on, we argued
until it got to my time to appear as a witness. I was to appear as a Permanent
Secretary representing the Governor in the hypothetical case, which ought not
to be. But the Nnamdi Azikwe team refused cross examining me. They refused
because they thought I was so smart and asking me questions would give our team
more points. But somehow they managed to question my representing the Governor
of the State. Apart from that, they refused questioning me. I practically saw
some of their counsel warning other counsel with a sign from their eyes from
doing that.
After arguments, it was
time for the results. No one was sure of who would win, because unlike other
matches, it was a fair contest. The judges compiled the results and it was time
to give the verdict. Again, it was time to make my school proud. Making it to
the next round was what was important to us. We were curios for the next step,
fixing our faces on the judges. The judges entered the court, sat down, and
called the results. We had ….
[Suspense- In next episode, readers will get to know who won the
match]
STAR ADVOCATE OF THE
EPISODE: Joshua Kprake
Kprake Joshua was at
first silent; he was powerful inside but never spoke. He decided to taste his
skills for the first time in the inter-chamber moot court competition, and that
was how he became known. Ever since he did excellently well, he had been
consistent. He won many matches and also emerged best mooter in the faculty. He
also represented NDU in national moot court competitions and even won a
national award for the school. Kprake had a good sense of humour and always
added this quality in his arguments. Hardly will any judge not like him, because
he was a very good advocate who had the perfect words in his mouth at times.
Please drop your comments after reading. I will appreciate!!
Please drop your comments after reading. I will appreciate!!