Lost in the Eastern jungles, Ugo, Tunji, and a band of escaping soldiers find themselves unwittingly trapped between enemy lines in the midst of a civil war trying to reunite with their forces.

When Diane, a vengeful eastern girl, out to avenge her father’s death, is captured by the group, their sojourn together takes a surprising turn from deep-seated hatred to friendship, and then love.

Love in Arms is a captivating fictional wartime love story based on true events that will transport readers into the scenes, astutely navigating the transcendence of these characters from ordinary to savage. In this war-torn landscape of military unrest and civil war, Love in Arms evokes the spark of humanity that can exist even in the most trying of times.

If you loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, you will be equally moved by this story of courage, resilience, and hope. Buy now before the price changes!

Book Excerpt
Chapter 15
Mother Goose Tears -
Diane and the surviving remnant of her group move sluggishly within the forest, heading home in retreat from their disastrous campaign. They walk downcast, saddened by their loss. The group is heavily armed, bearing machine guns they took from the dead soldiers. Each girl carries one gun in hand and slings another across their scantily clad body. Biafra needs every spare weapon it can get, and they were not going to let such an opportunity slip. The plan is that if they can make it back to the Biafran base on time, soldiers would be sent back to pick up the remaining weapons from the spoils of their kills. But at the moment, two is the limit they can carry, except for Diane, who holds only one as the leader and in anticipation of action as they trek.

They walk casually through a seemingly familiar route and show no hesitation or fear. Diane is unfocused and constantly drifts in thought. The image of the knife going down Ogechi's throat keeps replaying in her mind. She continually blames herself, wishing she had not convinced these girls to risk their lives fighting. But should they have died weak and scared? She asks herself as her mind fights back her silent guilt. She could not get the thought of Ogechi out of her head. Ogechi came to the group shy and seemingly weak, but she soon became the lioness in the pack. Seventeen-year-old Ogechi was the last child of three siblings. Diane recalls when Ogechi told her that her father was a secondary school teacher in the Northern Region of Nigeria. She bragged about his passion for teaching and how he empowered his students to the best of his ability and knowledge to ensure they succeeded in life. ‘Mallam Eze’, they fondly called him. He was loved by the students, who attest that without his support, they would not have understood the subjects or passed exams. Their love for him is palpable and apparent in their smiles.

Ogechi’s circumstances changed during the Northern crisis. Her family rushed to the bus station where the Igbos were getting buses out of the Northern Region. It was around 4 p.m., and the last bus and truck were packed and ready to depart as the raging riots brewing in the city centers escalated. Ogechi’s family was five in number, and there were only three spaces left, two on the open truck bed and one on the bus. Ogechi's father begged that his wife be allowed on board, but she was denied entry. Ogechi was allowed on the bus, and her elder brother and sister were on the truck bed. While he appealed to the truck driver to find a space for his wife, people in the truck and the bus suddenly started screaming. A group of about ten Hausas youths with cutlasses and sticks approached from afar.
Without hesitation, Mr. Eze hoisted his wife into the truck. The driver attempted to start the vehicle, which seemed to have an ignition issue. As they drew closer, Ogechi's father had a long look at the approaching group of boys and realized the majority were his students.

“They are my students, they would not harm us,” he says, waving to them and calling out some of their names. At this moment, the bus begins to move off. Seeing him, the boys in the group smiled, joyfully waving back and shouting euphorically, ‘Mallam Eze.’ There was a sense of transient calm amongst the people in the truck, as they must have felt that these were boys he knew and were friendly with Mr. Eze. Confidently, Ogechi's father approached the group of boys in a bid to buy some time for the truck to start and move off. Ogechi watched from the rear window of the departing bus as her father moved toward the boys, who were all smiles. She could identify the familiar faces of the boys that regularly helped her family with house chores, fetching water or firewood, and even repairing damaged items. She felt at ease, spotting a faint smile and believing that all was going to be fine as they chanted his name, "Mallam Eze". He was their school hero and most loved teacher. But what followed next was unfathomable. His favorite student, Danladi, came close, hugged him, and raised Mr. Eze's left hand as though he was being pronounced a champion amongst them. Then, he buried his 12-inch knife into the side of Mr. Eze. Reeling back in sudden pain and shock, his eyes shone red, and his facial expression suggested he was asking, in disbelief, ‘Why?’ But his mouth quickly filled with blood. Falling to his knees and bowing in front of his beloved students, he looked up and back toward the truck. Tears rushed down his eyes, knowing he could not do anything further to save his loved ones. And with one swoop, the boy slit his throat while the others frenziedly hacked at him from all angles. Their actions sent shock waves, and pandemonium ensued in the unresponsive truck as the increasingly terrified driver could not get the vehicle to start.

A mob suddenly appeared behind the ten-man group, and all hell broke loose. Everyone jumped out of the truck, scampering to escape, but they were too late as the mob had strategically encircled the station. Ogechi watched as her father's mutilated body hit the ground, drowning in his blood. Her bus sped away, and the passengers watched in horror as the people in the truck were slaughtered one after the other. No one was seen to have survived or escaped. Ogechi's life was shattered forever in that instant.
Diane and Ogechi lost their fathers in the hands of the Hausas, like every other girl in the group. However, unlike others, they both witnessed the event, and this experience made them closer. Ogechi is the youngest in the group, and she confided more readily in Diane like a big sister. She was brilliant and witty, having a keen resolve for vengeance, and spurred Diane on at every point. Diane saw herself in Ogechi, and they had become so close that her death was unbearable. Thus, she finds it difficult to conceal its emotional effect on her tortured mind, and she walks almost unconsciously like a zombie. Diane steps onto the hidden hog trap trigger, and she is instantly flung five meters into the air. The sheer force of the trap jerks her so violently off her feet that, in her shock and instinctive attempt to hold onto something, she involuntarily pulls the trigger, releasing a burst of bullets from her gun. The initial loud crackling sound of the sprung trap gets the attention of Tunji, Bala, and Umar. But the immediate follow-up of gunfire morphs their excited response into grave silence and a tactical battle stance. They aim in the direction of the advancing group of girls who are also confused.

The sudden turn of events creates a commotion that startles an unprepared group of young girls who have never been in a situation that requires them to bear arms while facing an advancing enemy. Startled and adrenaline jacked up, they immediately start shooting in all directions believing they are under attack. Diane hangs upside-down in the tree, knocked out from bumping her head. She had lost hold of her gun on the way up in the sudden, violent whiplash movement. Gradually regaining consciousness, her vision is blurry as blood rushes to her head in the upside-down position. She looks downward, seeing her group take a defensive stand in a gun battle that has now started between them and their unseen enemies, Tunji, Bala, and Umar. Umar and Bala take cover, believing they have been spotted, and return fire. Tunji’s vantage position gives him the advantage to calmly assess the situation while aiming first at the men, while Bala and Umar aim at everything that wields a gun. Moments later, they get reinforced by Ugo and the others, who come under fierce gunfire as they emerge at the location. Thrown into confusion, they are shocked to see half-clad females engaging them heavily from behind trees. But to survive, they return fire without questions.

The meadow green forest echoes a symphony of gunfire sounds, as tree barks and low branches splinter with loud cracking sounds almost in synchronized and vicious ballets of death. Such is the fate of Umaru whose prayer, as he usually tells the group, is never to be struck by a bullet during the war. As his luck would have it, coming in as reinforcement, he pulls back at the last moment and dodges bullets that hit a tree beside him. Still thankful and eager to fight as adrenaline rushes through him, he puffs briskly, ready and pumped to dash into the mix. He turns from behind the tree to aim when two bullets hit the same tree. The tree bark splintered into projectiles that rocketed straight into his neck and puncture his jugular vein and carotid artery. He got no chance to fire a single shot as he bleeds to death on the forest floor. His eyes blare in shock at the sky, drowning in his blood amid overhead gunfire.

Diane watches helplessly from above in mixed feelings of pride and agony as her group members are gunned down one after the other. They fight gallantly, weaving through trees and returning fire on an unseen enemy. Truly, it can be said that hell has no fury like a woman vexed. These young girls fight ferociously in retaliation, believing that their leader, Diane is dead. In anguish, she cries and screams in her dazed mental state for them to retreat, but she is inaudible to anyone. Even if her intended screams to warn them are audible, it is drowned in the loud gunfire and is also high up in the tree to be heard. As she regains her composure, a thought crosses her mind. She can cut herself loose with the machete slung on her waist, but she immediately reconsiders, knowing that, if she does, she will either die on impact to the ground or get struck by a bullet. Diane can only watch and break within in horror and guilt for bringing these brave young heroes to such an end. Ten long minutes later and twelve dead bodies on the forest floor, it goes deathly silent.

Now joined by Tunji, Ugo and the men walk around to understand what they have just experienced and assess the enemy casualties to know who the enemy is. They also have casualties, three of their men are dead, but the shocking aspect is the unexpected group that took them out. In their hearts, the question begs, why? The forest floor, covered with dried leaves and twigs, portrays a picture of beauty and heart-wrenching sorrow. It is heartbreaking and difficult to feel happy that they are defeated; they are just young girls. They bear much resemblance to the Amazonian warrior queens, fierce while subtly delightful to the eyes.

Tunji observes as Bala walks around looking at the carnage, he is vexed seeing the lifeless body of Umaru, Chinedu, and another Hausa colleague. Seemingly remembering the sprung trap, a split second of weird joy comes over his face, probably with the thought of dinner, just before he looks up and comes face to face with Diane hanging there. Visibly annoyed, Bala raises his gun aiming at her and cursing at the peak of his voice in Hausa:

“Dan boro ba, shege!”
As he pulls the trigger, Ugo redirects his aim by pushing the gun sideways as the shot goes wayward. Diane remains calm as Bala, visibly vexed, raises his voice at Ugo for not allowing him to kill the witch that fooled him and wasted his trap. But he is summarily cautioned sternly by Ugo to know his place.
“Stand down, Sergeant. She is already our captive. There is no need to senselessly execute her when we can get valuable information and understanding of what happened here from her. Get her down,” he orders....,