Nigeria
With more than twenty million people, Lagos, the business capital of Nigeria, is the largest city in Africa. It’s also a city of extremes. It hosts four billionaires and thousands of millionaires—ajebotas or “butter eaters.” At the opposite end are several million unemployed—the ajepakos or “twig eaters.” Desperation in proximity to such extreme wealth has pitted the twig eaters against the butter eaters.
The personal security of the butter eaters is largely a private affair. The U.S. Department of State explains that a “serious lack of resources (communications equipment, vehicles, skilled leadership, training) continues to undermine the effectiveness of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).... Criminal groups do not fear arrest or prosecution for their crimes. Local police and neighborhood associations, including vigilante groups, generally do not deter or disrupt crimes and seldom apprehend or detain suspects.” The Economist magazine describes how “commuters in even the poshest parts of town are sometimes caught in shoot-outs between robbers and policemen,” leading to Lagos being ranked among the five least livable cities in the world—alongside war-torn Damascus and Tripoli.
Scott asked a food executive who frequently travels to Lagos on business what was the strangest thing he had ever seen there. His story only serves to reinforce Lagos’s dangerous reputation.
The Road Warrior’s Story
“I regularly travel to Lagos to oversee our Nigeria operations,” said the Road Warrior. “We employ many thousands of Nigerians at our plants, and Africa is one of my company’s principal growth markets.
“The routine is always the same. I arrive in the evening, and it’s dark by the time I get through customs. I’m met there by a driver and an armed security guard. The security guard rides in the front seat while I work on my laptop in the back. I had made the trip dozens of times without incident. This time it would be different.
“We hadn’t been driving for long when I heard the rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire alongside my car. I looked out the window, and there riding beside me was a pickup truck filled with masked men. The two in its bed were armed with AK-47s. They were firing their weapons into the air—the muzzle flashes so close and bright as to leave me seeing spots.
“My driver slammed on the brakes and screeched to a stop on the side of the road, causing the pickup to pass us by. Then I saw smoke from its tires, as the gang hit the brakes hard, too. Without saying a word to me, my driver and guard opened their doors and sprinted off into the darkness in opposite directions. They had left me behind. I was frozen. The truck of gangsters was backing up fast. It was too late for me to run.
“I stepped out of the car with my hands up, looking down. In Nigeria, both robbers and murderers faced the prospect of the death penalty. This created a perverse incentive for thieves to kill those who could identify them.
“Two men with guns pushed me onto the roadside, while others climbed into my car and sped away.
“‘Phone, wallet, watch, and shoes!’ the leader shouted at me.
“I silently complied, passing them the first three, and then slipping my loafers off and handing those over as well.”
“‘Take off your clothes!’ was the next order.
“I took off everything but my boxer shorts and socks and handed them over.
“‘The shorts and socks, too!’
“‘Really, man?’ I asked, glancing up at the man’s face for the first time. He was wearing a ski mask. ‘Please, no.’
“The sweating masked man leveled the AK-47 at my face. I took off my underwear and socks and was now completely naked.
“‘The ring, too!’ he shouted, apparently just noticing my simple wedding band.
“I reached down to pull it off, but my fingers were swollen from the flight, and I couldn’t get it over my knuckle.
“‘It won’t come off.’
“The second assailant threw his AK-47 over his shoulder and grabbed my finger. He yanked so hard on the ring, I thought he would pull my finger off. Yet it still didn’t budge.
“‘Cut it off!’ shouted the leader.
“His second sprinted over to the pickup truck. After fumbling in the back, he came back with a pair of rose clippers.
“I mustered up all the spit my adrenalin-dried mouth had to offer and twisted like hell, managing to painfully pop the ring free. As soon as I handed it over, they drove away.
“The good news was that they hadn’t hurt me. The bad news was that I was alone and naked on the side of the road. There was a steady stream of vehicles coming from the airport. I tried to get one to help me. Not one stopped, though. So, I started walking back to the airport. It was a few miles of humiliation, but after a while I forgot about being naked. My biggest concern was trying to dodge broken glass and other trash alongside the road. When I finally reached the airport guards, they did not appear the least bit surprised.
“As soon as they saw me, one of them yelled, ‘It’s another naked white guy.’”