Mob justice

They waited till the night was dead before setting out

Their main motivation was hunger

But shame wouldn’t let them beg during the day

So they devised a plan

To beg under the mercy of darkness

As soon as they had walked a fair distance from their house

She would rob her eyes with Shea-butter and black eye brows

Hold a beggar’s bowl in her left hand while she placed her right hand on her daughter’s shoulder

Her daughter would do the begging, “Have mercy on us for God’s sake”

She would do the prayers, “May your eyes never retire before you die’’, ‘May your daylight never turn to darkness”

Sometimes they were lucky

Sometimes they were scorned

But it was better than doing nothing and waiting to die

As they were walking through a closed market on one of their begging rounds

She noticed there was a harvest waiting in the market for the patient and diligent

Many of the stalls closed in a hurry every evening

Sellers left grains of foodstuff that could be picked and salvaged

Rice, beans, corn, millet, some pepper, vegetables and so on

Sometimes spoilt food items were dumped by the shop owners

The dumpsite became a treasure spot for the two of them

One day, they saw a shop slightly ajar

The owner must have forgotten to lock it properly

She tried to squeeze in, the opening was too small for her

She told her daughter to try

Voila!

They hit jackpot

They packed bags of food items

It was the best week they ever had!

They had enough to eat and they took time to rest from their weeks of weary toil

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The shop owner raised an alarm as soon as she got to her shop the next day

She had been burgled

Bags of food were cut open and food items were carted away

Where were the market security officers?

Each shop was charged a certain amount by the local government

They claim they have employed the best security team in the land

So where were the best security team when she was being robbed blind?

A market council meeting was called

The security men were accused of complicity

Nobody could have robbed any of the shops unless the security men were not doing their jobs or they had hand in the robbery

Fingers pointed in every direction

The security team called a meeting

They had to redeem themselves

The Insult was just too much

Their reputation on the line

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They returned to their begging routine two weeks after they hit the jackpot

They had hoped their haul would last forever

It didn’t

They avoided the market like a plague

They were not unaware of the repercussions of what they did the last time

They were not thieves!

They were just hungry!

The begging routes dried up for a few days

Begging was a very dicey vocation

Sometimes someone with a big problem would seek them out and bless them to seek a change in fortune

At other times passersby would give chump change

But they were mostly ignored

Day beggars make a whole lot more

But to beg during daylight is to discard all shame

Those who have persistently refused to help them would be the first to ridicule them

Their good name would b.e destroyed forever!

The night posed another grave risk

Predators, ritualists, kidnappers and wicked people loved the night

It was not every hand stretched forth to give that did so with a clear motive!

Her daughter suggested the market

She felt they could get something tangible by picking the grains as usual

She agreed!

They got to the market!

They found another shop full of foodstuff open

What!

Whao!!

The sneaked into the shop and started packing foodstuff

Suddenly they heard a noise

The torchlight beams filled the shop

The housefly had fallen right into the web of the spider

The security team pounced on them!

They begged!

They were just hungry!

They were not thieves!!!

Nobody listened

They were beaten blue black, stripped naked

The security men were like a pack of hyenas

They had caught two mountain goats and must tear them to pieces

They grounded red hot pepper, poured it in a bottle and told her to open her legs

She cried blood while her daughter begged for death

But mercy had gone to sleep, empathy had been buried!

They inserted the bottle into her and emptied the content while she screamed

The men jeered!

They did the same for her daughter

They believed they were meting out justice

And even recorded the whole episode on video

Fifteen mighty men of valor had caught two notorious armed robbers

The world must cheer with them!

After hours of torture they were set loose

She could barely walk

As soon as they got home she bathed her daughter

She also had her bath

Blood and tears ran ceaselessly

They were a gory sight

She eventually slept

But her body had taken too much for its capacity

She died!

Her daughter survived by the whiskers

The video went viral and many people took up their cause

It was too little too late

Justice left mercy behind in their case!