Web of Lies (17 page)

A double-decker bus clattered past, veering toward the pavement. Femi checked the number to see if it would take them back to their High Street. Aunt Gracie and Uncle Roy would be waiting with a meal. Femi felt a small burst of energy.

“Hurry, Papa! Sade! I’m starving!”

Femi contorted his face, flickered a grin, and bounded ahead to join the bus queue.

S
ATURDAY
1
ST
N
OVEMBER

As in
The Other Side of Truth
, my characters are all fictional, but there are references to real people and events.

In 1997 General Abacha was still in charge of Nigeria. He had seized power four years earlier, and anyone who criticized him and his soldiers was in danger of being arrested, tortured, even executed. Outspoken journalists (like Papa) were a particular target. By 1997 almost fifteen thousand Nigerians had come to Britain, asking for asylum. Fewer than twenty-five had been granted permission to stay—and some of those for a limited time only. Many asylum seekers were left waiting in fear about their future. After Abacha died suddenly in 1998, Nigeria held democratic elections and the country returned to civilian rule.

In Sierra Leone, by 1997 a civil war had been waging for almost six years. Since the war began, there had been two military coups and only fragile hopes for peace, when President Kabbah was elected to power and called for a ceasefire. Different groups, some with foreign support, fought to control the country’s gold and diamonds. Children as young as ten were captured and forced to become child soldiers, mostly by rebel forces; but they were also recruited by units of the Sierra Leonean army.
Boys were drugged and taught to kill. Some went on to form their own teenage militias such as the West Side Boys. Freetown, the capital, became the only safe area. In May 1997 Major Johnny Koroma, a soldier in the Sierra Leone army, seized power from President Kabbah and his elected government. Koroma took control of the army and was also supported by some of the rebels, including the West Side Boys. Thousands of educated people fled the country, and others who happened to be overseas (like Papa’s friend, Mami Cynthie) found themselves unable to return. The United Nations imposed sanctions, and a West African peacekeeping force, led by Nigerian troops, was sent to enforce them.

On 20 October 1997, a Commonwealth conference was held in London to help President Kabbah return to power. (This is the conference that Mami Cynthie tells Sade she is going to attend.) Three days later Koroma and his military junta agreed to a peace plan that would include child soldiers being handed back to their families. (This is why Mami Cynthie thinks she will be able to return home.) But the agreement was weak and broke down (as Papa feared). Although President Kabbah was restored to government in February 1998, the bitter fighting continued and, by the time peace finally came, many more lives had been lost.

UNICEF estimated than five thousand children were turned into child soldiers. A further five thousand were made to carry goods, cook, and serve the rebels. In 2003 Sierra Leoneans began to tell their painful stories to a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Many people have generously helped me during my research and writing. Although I have space to mention only some by name, my thanks go to them all.

Olusola Oyeleye offered me her wonderful drama workshops, unflagging interest in my fictional characters, and insightful comments on the real world they inhabit. I also thank the many young people who spoke so openly and honestly. These include students at Charles Edward Brooke School, Camberwell, London, with particular thanks to Vwarhe Eguridu, Cherish Nwokike, Donna Rafferty, and Monisola Britto; and students at the From Boyhood to Manhood Foundation in Peckham. I am much indebted to its director, Uanu Seshmi. My thanks go to Camilla Batmanghelidjh at Kids Company, and The Bosco Centre, both in south London; Ruth Symister and students at Whitefield Fishponds Community School, Bristol; Sharon Muiruri and members of Vita Nova, Bournemouth; Sheila Melzak, Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture; Jill Rutter, London Metropolitan University; Praveen Naidoo; Det. Chief Inspector Brooker; Jeanette Redding; Deborah Catesby; Hannah Lake; and Maya Naidoo. As ever, Jane Nissen and Hilary Delamere have provided unstinting support, and my husband, Nandha, his patience and sustenance.

B
EVERLEY
N
AIDOO
grew up in South Africa under apartheid. She says: “I was brought up with the usual conceptions most white South Africans have, completely taking for granted the services of our cook-cum-nanny, whose own three children lived over three hundred kilometers away. I still feel intensely angry about the racist distortions of reality—passed on to me as a child…. I believe we owe it to young people here to help them understand what that struggle against an evil system is about. How can we hope for peace if we deny our children access to that knowledge?”

Beverley Naidoo was detained without trial when she was twenty-one and left South Africa the following year for Britain, where she has since lived. Her books about South Africa include
JOURNEY TO JO’BURG, NO TURNING BACK
, and
OUT OF BOUNDS. WEB OF LIES
is the sequel to
THE OTHER SIDE OF TRUTH
, which won both the Carnegie Medal and the Jane Addams Book Award and was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association.

You can visit her online at www.beverleynaidoo.com.

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Jacket art © 2006 by Kate Miller

Jacket design by Christopher Stengel