Where on Earth is Safe?

As far back as 1989 when I would visit southern Nigeria, I expected to encounter crime. I had heard so many stories about missionaries, foreigners, and expatriates being robbed. At night, I would lay awake at night listening for any possible sound of a thief rustling around the perimeter of the house. Out on the road, I fully expected to be stopped by an armed robber at some point and mentally prepared for it to happen. However, when I first crossed over into northern Nigeria, something put my mind at greater ease.

The most obvious aspect of northern Nigerian (Arewa) culture is the pervasiveness of Islam in all of life. Also, the culture in the Arewa is much more traditional causing people to greet longer, practice hospitality, and exercise greater patience in a traffic accident. Our entry in the central Nigerian city of Jos was an appropriate introduction to the Arewa with a strong Muslim minority. Nevetheless, any illusion of innocence was shattered during the Jos riots from September 7-12, 2001. This tumultuous time gave us unique insight into the way that "Christians" in Jos were willing to kill to "defend their land."

During our 4 years in Jos from May 2001 to July 2005, we witnessed a continual increase of organized crime. We initially were comfortable with our German Shepherd and Rottweiler for security at night. However, the more that our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances were being attacked we increased our security team to 7 dogs. Jos was a cosmopolitan city inviting the best and the worst of people from every corner of Nigeria. It was geographically a part of the Arewa (northern Nigeria) but culturally had become more like the busy, frenzied, and quick-tempered society of southern Nigeria.

As our family moved to the northeastern city of Maiduguri in July of 2005, we immediately noticed the slow pace of life. In Jos, we could go to the open-air market and get almost anything any day of the week during daylight hours. In Maiduguri, our market days were limited to Tuesday through Thursday because on Friday through Monday there was little availability of goods due to Islamic Friday prayers, weekend rest, and the arrival of all imported products on Monday. Our first Maiduguri neighborhood was a close-knit community where the roads were bad but criminals had no easy access. On occasion, we would hear the vigilantees gun's at night to protect the community but hardly heard of a break-in.

On Sunday morning July 21, 2007, my worst fears were realized when Ibrahim (my 5 year old son), 2 friends, and I were stopped by armed robbers on the road close to the Cameroon border. Nonetheless, these north African robbers who spoke only Arabic only wanted money and items of value. They did not touch us, threaten us, or terrorize us but simply told us to "bring money" and open the back of the car to search through our bags. Ibrahim and I sat down on the road waiting for these masked men to finish rummaging around. When it was all over with, Ibrahim, my 2 friends, and I thanked God for his protection during the robbery.

We have learned to trust God because there is no place in this fallen world where there is a guarantee of "safety." The Arewa (northern Nigeria) has called us to serve people in need and we invite you to join us.