wiegie Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 My wife and I have have some very very good friends of ours who are currently living in Nigeria with their 2.5 year-old son. (They live their because the guy is doing sort of missionary work on building water projects (he is an engineer). My wife just got off the phone with them and they are ok. They were in the city of Jos over the weekend when the violence broke out (if you don't know what violence I am talking about, you aren't alone, my wife and I didn't know anything about it when we called them). They were actually huddled up inside some sort of religious compound, but could hear the gunfire right outside of the walls and they actually had two teenage boys with machetes attempt to climb the wall to come into their compound. Eventually evacuated by a convoy of British and American troops and they are currently being sheltered at the Swiss embassy in Nigeria. Our friends said that what they saw was sort of like what Rwanda had to have been like in the 1990s. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7758624.stm Today people should have been at their working places but still they are not. They are too frightened. We are staying inside. Even the shops are quiet - nowhere is open. You can't buy anything to eat - all we have now is water to drink. Nothing more. By the time the sun rose [on Friday] there was a lot of smoke everywhere - houses were burning. And there was mass killing of people. The violence continued until late that night and then on Saturday it began again at 0530 hours and went on until 2300 hours. All the security forces were around: the air-force, the police and the army. I have a telescope and through it I watched what was happening from my home in the Christian quarters, high up on Shaka Hill overlooking Jos. I could see the burning houses, all the smoke and hear the gunshots. Women were running away carrying their children, clothes, foodstuffs and water. Men were using petrol to douse the grass-roofed houses and then lighting with a match. Lack of trust I could hear shouts of "Allahu Akbar". Some of the Christians came running to safety at our place. I saw all this on Friday and again on Saturday but on Saturday there was even more shooting and a lot of shouting. One of my neighbours is a doctor and he could not reach work alone and so they came and picked him up so he could attend to casualties. He told me most of the wounded had had their hands and legs cut off with long sharp knives. The government must take drastic action to find an urgent solution to this crisis - the main thing is the lack of trust between the Muslim brothers and the Christian brothers. The governor is trying but it is not what we expect. I think trust can maybe be gained when the state government and the federal government work together. I am worried, seriously worried because it is not easy to lose a colleague or a neighbour or someone who you pray with. And this is the second time that it has come. I lost someone from my village. He was on his way to school on his bike and he unfortunately found himself surrounded by angry Muslim brothers and he was killed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 That is some crazy poopy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H8tank Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 I could hear shouts of "Allahu Akbar". I really hope rajn doesn't see this. I am glad your friends are well, but I cannot see how being there with wife and baby is responsible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Anarchy is anarchy, whether it is religious zealotry, ethnic cleansing or plain old war. This comes from lack of order, not in spite of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 by any chance, did jack bauer save them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Is this to avenge the Crusades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Oh those nutty Africans. Just aint happy unless somebody's being shot/raped/starved/etc. Them vs the Arabs - the ULTIMATE cage match! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Oh those nutty Africans. Just aint happy unless somebody's being shot/raped/starved/etc. Them vs the Arabs - the ULTIMATE cage match! I believe this is called Darfur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 We have not heard from our friends and fear the worst. But then again they are Christians and probably deserve to die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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