Memories of my very own fallen hero

After watching the Flying Eagles’ fine display against Enyimba in the second game of the 2015 Super 4 competition at the Abuja National stadium, I retired to my ‘cubicle’ hoping to have a sound night’s rest. However, at around 9 pm, I received a call from my cousin, Samuel Iorember Ngobua but I did not suspect anything. After teasing me by calling me ‘Dan Agbese’ the prolific writer, as he addresses me each time he calls, he asked ‘when last did you hear from Brother Peter?’ He was referring to my immediate elder brother, Warrant Officer Peter Ternadoo Ngobua, who is now late.
My heart missed a beat but I told him when last Peter and I spoke and what he said next began the story of what I have been battling to come to terms with. He told me how my late brother’s wife called him and how he later spoke to someone in Maiduguri  and was told that our brother was one of those who sustained fatal injuries in the attack on Monguno military barrack by the heinous Boko Haram. Panic-stricken, my heart began to beat faster. I managed to gather myself and asked him to tell me if my brother was dead. He said no, if it were so he would have told me. He said the source told him that Peter sustained serious head injury and was among the soldiers that were receiving treatment in hospital.
That night, I could not sleep. Different thoughts flooded my mind. Briefly, my thoughts were these: It should be a case of mistaken identity or the following morning, Peter himself should call to tell me that he travelled down to Maiduguri to talk to us. He did that once in a while. I thought of what to tell the children who are too young to know the meaning of death. I also tried to figure out how my siblings and aged mother would respond to the news of his death, if the worst happened. I summed up my thoughts by asking God to spare his life or give me the wherewithal to help look after his family.
My hopes were however dashed when on Monday, my cousin who served as the link between us and the inside source confided in me that our brother had paid the supreme price. He could not survive even as everything humanly possible was done to save his life. Although those of us who knew that Peter was no more, tried to keep the sad news from our late brother’s wife, pressure began to mount as the news started circulating via social media. I kept getting calls from all directions yet I could not disclose to even close family members what had happened as we were yet to get official confirmation.
Meanwhile, we were still hoping for a miracle to happen. However, when the captain who was my late brother’s immediate boss called to intimate us of the heartbreaking news which was corroborated by one of the military medical personnel who attended to his corpse, our hopes vanished to pave way for the gloom that has enveloped the Agber Ngobua family. Although my sister in-law was following the events as they unfolded, she and our mother were yet to know that Peter had gone for good. How to break the news to them was a herculean task.
With the support of the Pastor and elders of NKST Church Nyanya , we were able to convey to his wife the painful truth. Same was done at home where our mother who is battling age related ailments was diplomatically given the devastating news. I must thank God that none of the things we feared happened. As a practising Christian, our mother accepted the loss as an act of God and my sister in-law, a strong-willed lady, proved her tenaciousness by bearing the news with courage.
Warrant Officer Peter Ternadoo Ngobua has since been buried in Maiduguri with full military honours. In trying to console myself, I’m thinking about the condition of hundreds of his colleagues who did not get a decent burial because their corpses were not recovered. Furthermore, I have been thinking about the fate of some of his colleagues who have been taken into captivity by the insurgents. What about those who are presently battling for life in hospitals in Maiduguri? What about those who are still prosecuting the war but can be killed at any time?
And then I ask myself are Nigerians genuinely sympathetic and concerned about the lives of the troops in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa? So many questions to answer, but the war is getting bloodier and nobody can tell what will happen after the ‘Presidential six weeks’.
My dear brother, it is hard to write this tribute and address you in the past tense but this is the only thing I can do to honour you. You were so proud of my profession and you hardly introduced me without adding ‘my younger brother who is a journalist’. I therefore deem it necessary to drop few lines to immortalise you in the hearts of those who would read this tribute. I reiterate here that you were a perfect gentleman who served this nation faithfully and paid the supreme price to keep her safe from bloodthirsty murderers.
Your are gone but being the humane and caring soldier you were, I know your one wish would be for the government of this country to stop politicising the fight against Boko Haram. The brave soldier you were, you did not ‘blow AWOL’ but remained hopeful that the war would be won soon. Unfortunately you are gone but surely, your soul will rest fully on the day the right things would be done to completely uproot the insurgents and their devilish ideologies. As I mourn your sudden exit, I pray for the government to deem it necessary to adequately compensate families left behind by fallen heroes who put their lives in the line of fire, protecting the territorial integrity of this country. If Boko Haram is not contained and this country remains on the edge as it is presently, your death will remain a bitter taste in my mouth. However, if these leprous fingers are cut off for Nigeria to survive, then I will rest my heart and say Warrant Officer Peter Ternadoo Ngobua remains alive, because soldiers don’t die: they live on.