Jos Crisis Diary
This is a diary that I wrote during and after the Jos Crisis in November 2008. I don’t usually write a diary, but I thought this might make interesting reading for me at some point in the future. It covers the days from Wednesday 26th November to Wednesday 10th December. I hope you find it interesting. Some of the names of people and places have been removed for security reasons.
Wednesday 26th November
Got confirmation today at about lunchtime that the hospital would be closed because of the Plateau State Local Elections tomorrow. Had a full caseload of outpatients today and all but 2 turned up so it was a busy morning. By about 2pm I was able to get started on the inpatients and there were quite a few of them. I had 2 patients with Paraplegia, 3 stroke patients and some others so they took a while too. I was hoping to go shopping after work as I needed to get supplies because my stocks had run low and I hadn’t had a chance to get anything earlier. By the time I finished work at about 5.30 I realised that I didn’t have much chance of getting all the shopping I needed so I rushed home to hopefully catch Mama Delight at her vegetable stall. I was not in luck so I had to quickly rush down to the little shop on the road next to the compound to get what I could from there. I am still amazed by that shop each time I go in there –it is no bigger than the box bedroom that I grew up in at home but it is literally packed to the rafters with produce. The thing that amazes me most though is that the prices are as cheap if not cheaper than anywhere else in Jos. I am used to having prices in small shops being much more than in bigger ones but things are definitely different here – but I love it, it is so much easier to just walk to shop just round the corner.
Thursday 27th November 2008
The day of the election and a much needed day off work for me. We were warned that there were possibilities of some election ‘troubles’ so we needed to lay low and stay on the compound. I had a long of list of things to do, so this was fine by me. I needed to complete my prayer letter for November before it was no longer November, prepare and wrap the Christmas cards and presents that I was going to send with Anna (the physio working at Open Doors who is going to return to the UK on Monday) to friends and family back at home and also to write an article for the Greenleaf news sheet/ Grapevine. So I enjoyed a lay-in in the morning and then had a lazy day getting the bits done that I needed to do. Things went smoothly and the day was quiet – very quiet. All businesses were closed and I think road travel was restricted so the roads outside Challenge which are usually a din of car horns, 100cc motorbike engines and screeching tyres were peaceful. It was lovely. Thursday was quiet all day and in the evening the compound was even more so as it was Thanksgiving Day and so all the Americans had gone to the Fretheim’s for a Thanksgiving meal and some of the other City ministries people had gone for a non-American meal at the Laritsens. In the late afternoon, evening Monday came over to show me the photos from the wedding he had been to at the weekend and also to return the sandals that I had lent him to wear at the wedding. We cooked the last of my Tuna and vegetables and made pasta with a sauce. Then it was time for the evening prayer meeting. To start with it was just me Chris and Helen so we went round our prayer requests, and then the rest of the Girls (Ruth, Lisa and Lisa) arrived. So we had a prayer evening and then went to bed, looking forward to having just one more day at work and then the weekend.
Friday 28th November 2008
My alarm was set for normal time and I got up and started my breakfast just as usual. I remembered that I had a patient with Bell’s Palsy coming in this morning so I needed to look up on the internet what things to do for that. As I sat at the table eating my cornflakes and browsing the internet Joseph (my neighbour) came over and said he had just been talking to Peter Fretheim. Apparently there was some unrest in Jos and he wasn’t able to get anyone to come over and sort out Joseph’s van. Joseph suggested I might want to find out more about the unrest before I leave for work. So I planned to eat the rest of breakfast and then go and check with Chris as to whether it was sensible for me to go to Evangel or not. Before I had finished Chris came to the door and told me that there was some trouble over at Evangel and that we were being advised to lay low and stay on the compounds for the meantime until things settled down. So, having had a very productive day yesterday there I was with nothing to do. So wandered around the compound and chatted with the others who were there. I also decided to try and fix the washing machine that was not quite working and making a funny smell. I managed to get it apart and looked at the bits inside so fiddled with the controls a bit, cleaned some of the debris out of the machine and then started it up. As my hands were dirty, I decided I would try and continue my handy man work – especially as the NEPA was still on and try to fix the lights in the corridors. I managed to get most the lights working, which was satisfying and turned out to be a great blessing with the events of the rest of the day and night. Then, things started to get interesting. We began to see clouds of smoke rising from various places around in Jos and then we heard gunshots – thankfully in the distance from all around us as well. It was quite exciting really. I had never really heard gunfire before – maybe sometimes in the countryside during grouse hunting season, but no real experience. I was unsure whether it was cars backfiring or what. However, I soon learnt what was what and as the car traffic again died down outside the compound as the rest of Jos realised the dangers around and returned to their homes – it was clear that all the bangs we heard were gunfire. It was particularly obvious when you heard periods of what I now know to be sustained automatic gunfire things were getting more serious. I guess around 10am the message came through that we were to definitely stay in the compound as things had deteriorated. I think that was also when the news came through that the people at the Evangel compound had been evacuated to Niger Creek compound as things were too bad around the Evangel site. So, Joseph, Jamie, Lisa, Ruth and I spent most of the day together, chatting and taking picture of the smoke and listening to the gunfire and wondering where it was from and what was happening there. As I was fixing the lights Rene and Corrine came over from Pharmacy compound to check their emails. The girls on our compound then planned to go over to Pharmacy compound to have lunch with the others over there but before they could do that, they were told they could not even cross the road to get to the other compound – we really were in a Crisis lockdown.
Around lunchtime we had a visit from the SIM security team and this was when the situation suddenly seemed to get a bit more serious. ********** and ********** visited our compound, bringing with them a shortwave radio and antennae and a statement for us all to give out to relatives and friend etc. They told us about what had been happening and that we were on Level 2 security alert. This meant we should not leave our compounds at all and should pack a flee bag with all our essential documents and basic supplies (clothes, toiletries, medication etc etc) that we could take with us in case we had to evacuate at short notice. They also told us that the radio was with us so that we could keep in contact with all the other compounds and could be informed of any developments. Finally they said (and this is what made it a bit scary really) that the men on the compound had to set up a rota so that someone was on watch at all times and was able to listen to the radio. Wow!!! This really is serious!! So I took a deep breath, prayed a little prayer and then started discussing the things we needed to do. We were taught how to use the radio learnt some of the call names. We then set up the radio and got some smaller walkie-talkies that we could use to contact Pharmacy compound as we were the contact point for them as well, as they did not have a big radio. Despite this being all a bit scary it was also reassuring that there were people here who really knew what they were doing - *** and ***** exuded confidence (in different ways) and they made you feel that they had everything under control. They had a lot of experience and they said that although they were making these evacuation plans they did not think they would need to use them. Also, in 2001 when the troubles were particularly bad SIM people had never been a target. Again, this was reassuring. I was undecided whether I wanted to email people at home to let them know what was happening. I hoped that things would settle down and then I could tell them once things were back to normal. However, after one of my numerous checks on the internet to find out more information about the troubles, I found that the news had made it to the BBC website. I decided I had to tell my parents so I sent an email to them with the subject line!!!!For Dad to read only!!!! and before that I sent him a text massage to get him to check his emails before mum did.
The rest of the day/ evening we spent putting our flee bags together and listening to the gunfire and taking photos of the smoke rising across Jos. At one point I walked into Jamie’s room and asked if everyone had charged their phones up. Apparently the way I walked in and said it made it seem as though we were going (evacuating) – I had to quickly reassure them that we were staying where we were. In the evening we had a meal together (J, J, L and R) – I made Bean and vegetable curry which came out ok except for the beans which were hard. We had a good meal and then relocated to Gay Lynn’s apartment. (Gay Lynn was away in Kano and was not able to get back – her apartment is much more comfortable than the others and also has 110v outlets that we could plug the radio into to charge – it also has a TV and DVD player – Bonus!!!) So we moved into there (along with our crisis candy (or sweets !!) stolen from the orphans – Lisa and Jamie were putting together bags for the Gidan Bege children and there were lots of sweets and they felt that people wouldn’t mind us having some of them as it was a crisis after all!!!) and watched a DVD (Joseph’s choice – that won’t happen again) of Medicine Man –awful film but we got through to the end eventually with a few breaks for checks on gunfire and patrols of the compound. We were also able to speak to a few people from various places in Jos, including ******* he told us how he was on guard and earlier in the day had been out and got shot at and then hit in the side with a metal bar – One of his friends had got shot in the head. Joseph did very well talking to him on the phone telling him that the ************** looked up to him and he really shouldn’t be going out and fighting. Joseph and I stayed up until 2.30 watching Planet Earth and doing other things to pass the time, when Chris came to relieve us from our watch duty. So I got to bed at about 3 am and actually managed to get to sleep pretty quickly. That was a blessing.
Saturday 29th November 2008
After 3 hours sleep I was woken by the sound of gunfire which sounded louder and more sustained than previously. Although I was still tired and needed sleep I decided that I wasn’t going to get to sleep again so I decided to get up. I had breakfast and then went to speak to Chris and find out the latest developments. Unsurprisingly we were still to stay on the compound. There was a good thing happening though, the NEPA was still on. I checked my emails again in the morning and had an email from my Dad, he had told my mum and they had told a number of other people so we were getting prayer support already. I was also able to speak to them on Skype, It was good to speak to my parents on Skype and they sounded surprisingly calm about the whole thing. I did wonder whether this was a just when they were on the phone, but they did say now they know how Clare and I felt when they went to Kosova just after the war had ended. It was a real encouragement to know that there was lots of prayer going on to support me and everyone here in Jos. It was great to be supported so well and shows how important the role of prayer partners is. I then sent out a general email to all of my supporters. As the NEPA was still on (praise the Lord) I decided to make the most of it and do my washing after having spent ages cleaning out the washing machine I thought I would give it a go so was able to put 2 loads through it and they dried really quickly. The rest of the day was spent chatting and spending time with the others on the compound. There was not much to do really and we were all getting bored. Lisa (on Pharmacy compound) and Ruth had an extra stress at the time as they were supposed to be leaving Jos on Sunday to travel to Ghana on their way home, but they still did not have their passports back from the travel agent with the visa and they were unable to contact him. Lisa and Ruth eventually heard that the passports were in the office in Jos and then the SIM security team were in action and ************ contacted the travel agent and then drove down to the office with him to get the passports – what a great team!!!
On Saturday a 24 hour curfew was in place across the whole of Jos and so no movement was allowed. We did not know this until mid morning and by this time one of Joseph’s friends (Stephen) had come to visit him. We had a police/army man on the road outside our compound with a gun and he was checking all the cars that went past and stopping people from moving. Fortunately he let Stephen go through.
We had lunch together at Jamie’s enjoying ‘crisis’ soup together and sharing around the last of the fruit we had. During the day, news came through that the US Embassy was offering safe passage out of Jos to anyone who wanted it. This included Lisa and Ruth, meaning that they would be able to get to Abuja and out of the country. It was also offered to everyone else but none of us took up the offer. Ruth was initially undecided, I guess she was reluctant to go as she wanted to see it through to the end but also felt she should go as she might regret not going – she didn’t like the idea of leaving somewhere that was like home and then going to somewhere new – she said she would have felt different if she had been going straight home. I wondered what I would do in that situation. It is a very difficult decision. It seems that you invest so much psychological energy into the situation that you need to see it through to the end in order to be able to resolve all that stress in your system. It is also quite exciting in a way and you want to see what is going to happen and how you will cope. Anyway, she eventually decided that she would go.
In the afternoon I went to bed for a couple of hours as I was feeling pretty tired by then.
In the evening Chris and Helen invited us all to their house for a meal and a farewell celebration for Ruth. We had a lovely meal of chicken casserole with carrots in it, with rice and cucumber. It was a great meal and a good time to share together and remember the time Ruth had spent with us. After the meal we once again relocated to Gay Lynn’s apartment for night watch. I can’t remember what we did at the beginning of that night, but at the end Joseph and I watched another episode of Planet earth. Then, at 2.30 Chris relieved us of our watch and we went to bed. The night was quieter and there were less gun shots.
Sunday 30th November 2008 (MY BIRTHDAY!!!!)
I woke up around 6.30 again but was able to get back to sleep again until about 8.30. There was much less noise of gunfire so it was easier to rest. I then got up and had my breakfast and as I did this I spoke to my parents on Skype and checked my emails. It was again a great encouragement to hear from people with messages of support and also wishing me as good a birthday as I can have!!!! Whilst I was doing this, Helen gave me my passport to look after, everyone was being given them. I opened it up to find that there was no passport inside my cover – I quickly ran to tell Helen, and then she realised that my passport was at immigration, getting its re-entry visa for my trip to Ghana after Christmas. Later, Jamie came over and said she had cooked some pancakes for breakfast so we went over there and had some of those – I was quite glad of this as I was running out of bread and so was pleased not to have to use it up and have pancakes instead.
Lisa and Ruth were leaving at 10.30 to meet up with the rest of the convoy at Hillcrest School to begin their journey out of Jos. Lisa had to come over to our compound and when she came over she brought with her a Birthday card for me. She had made it and it had been signed by all the people staying over on the Pharmacy compound (Cari, Dana, Rene, Corrine, Marc and Lisa) – it was nice to receive the card amidst all the chaos. We also saw the people from the compound as they were all going to Hillcrest as well – not to leave Jos, but to stay there as they needed some more space to move about.
I then returned to the compound and we had a little meeting. Chris said he was going to go over to the church service at ECWA Headquarters Church. Joseph went with him and I stayed on the compound to listen to the radio. There was not much happening and I struggled to stay awake but managed.
The rest of the day we spent keeping ourselves amused on the compound. Then we had the novelty of going off the compound to the Pharmacy compound to throw a Frisbee around and burn off some of our excess energy. It was nice to step outside the compound and to be able to run a bit (or at least jog – the compound is not that big but bigger than Challenge).
In the evening we were invited to Chris and Helen’s apartment again for a meal and a small party to celebrate my birthday. We had a really nice Chicken curry and Lisa and Jamie had put together a little party pack for me (mainly made up from the sweets and toys for the orphans!!!) and Jamie had done a poster saying Happy Birthday Matt. I got a couple of cards and rather randomly an inflatable penguin and child’s handbag!!!! After the last couple of days, nothing really surprised me.
That night we had discussed whether we needed to keep watch or not and had sort of decided we didn’t need to. Then as we listened to the radio and some of the chatter I thought that actually, although nothing much was happening where we were, we should at least stay up and keep our ears open but not patrol the compound so that we could help others if we heard anything to try and locate the source of any problems. After we had decided this, we heard some shots very close to the compound – almost as if they were in the next street. We made contact with Jason on Pharmacy to see if he could localise the source. Then there were more shots and just as loud, but we could not see anything. Jason could hear raised voices from the other side of his compound so went to investigate. There were a lot of police/army there so things seemed under control. There was just one more shot and then it was quiet after that. We came to the conclusion that it was just the police or army enforcing the curfew and probably firing warning shots. The rest of the night was quiet. So we watched a bit more Planet Earth, browsed the internet and then were relieved by Chris again at around 2.30.
Monday 1st December 2008
We had decided we would have a meeting at 8 in the morning to find out the plan for the day and whether we would be allowed off the compound. I slept for as long as I could and then just got dressed and went to the meeting. We met in Chris and Helen’s apartment and the news was that we could go back to work but not travel further north than Evangel Hospital as the trouble had been too bad there and although it was calm now, it was thought not worth the risk. We should not travel unnecessarily. I went back to my room and had breakfast and then prepared to go to work. I ended up getting to work at about 10am. As I travelled to work there were not too many signs of trouble, apart from a burnt out car rather precariously balanced on the back of a lorry. I tried to get a photo of it but didn’t manage as I was at risk of making another car wreck. I had been warned that the scene at Evangel was pretty horrific but when I got there everything seemed to be the same as usual apart from only one gate being open and less people moving around the hospital and a definite lack of women wearing veils. There were not too many new patients for me to see and none of the outpatients that were booked turned up. I was concerned though that Tabari was not there and I could not find out from anyone whether he was ok or not. I saw the patients I needed to see and then returned home. Before that, I helped Jason get a barrel of fuel from the ******. I was travelling back with Jason when we were told by another driver that I had a flat tyre at the back. When we got back to the compound it was true – a big nail. So Joseph helped me change the tyre and then Jason phoned Marco to come and take the tyre to fix it. Joseph, Lisa and Jamie had visited ********** during the day and been through town. They said there were a few burnt out shops and not many people at all. When they had got to ********** they had been told to go home as the Uncles there did not think it was safe to be there.
When I got home I slept for a while and then decided I would venture out to try and get some fruit and vegetables. It was about 5.30 and the curfew started at 6 pm. As I went out the gate the guard was a little reluctant that I should go but he said I should just hurry. As I walked down the road I thought to myself that actually the market was not likely to be open as the stallholders would be going home before the curfew. I walked down Bank road and there were about 10-15 soldiers milling around, one having his shoes polished by the street shoe polisher, another reading a newspaper and others just giving me strange looks. I felt a little uneasy and it made it all seem very real and concerned me that someone thought it necessary for this number of soldiers to be present just down the road from my compound. Anyway, I quickly walked down the road and my suspicions were confirmed and the market was all packed up, so I quickly returned to the compound arriving with 10 minutes to spare.
When I got there Gay Lynn had returned from Kano. She was pleased to be back with her friends on the compound. That evening we had a meal at Jamie’s again. We made Tuna Pasta bake under my direction and it came out quite well although it needed more salt. After dinner we decided to have a game of Settler’s of Catan. We were happily playing and looking forward to a proper night’s sleep when Jason came on the radio and once again suddenly everything changed. Jason said he had just heard from one of the **** people on his compound that they had had information from a Pastor in ********* that they had heard a group of people were coming to Jos with the aim of attacking the *****************, *****************, the ******************, the *************** and the Challenge compound!!!!! Unsurprisingly, the game was abruptly stopped mid flow as we discussed with Chris and Jason the plan of action. The first port of call was to contact the SIM security team and let them know and then see what they advised. Joseph and I then went around the compound perimeter to assess any possible entry points and to ensure things were all as they should be. After a number of communications and attempts to verify the story the team came to the conclusion that there was nothing that could be done this time of night with the curfew in place. They also thought that the story was very unlikely as with the level of police and military presence any attempt like that would be futile and end in certain death for the attackers. Nevertheless, we were told to keep watch, but this time not to go out onto the balconies as we would be very vulnerable there. As Gay Lynn was back we set up camp in my apartment with the radios. We then got news that the security team had been in contact with the authorities and there would be police/army patrols around the area. This was comforting. So we spent the evening surfing the web (the NEPA was still on!!!) and keeping ourselves amused. I decided to go to bed at about 11.30 so I could then get up early as the thought was that any attack would be most likely in the early hours after the curfew had ended. I didn’t want to be in bed if anything kicked off!!!
Tuesday 2nd December 2008
I woke up at about 5.30 and got up and had my breakfast. Everything was quiet and the road was beginning to get busy, but still not as busy as usual. I checked with Chris and he said things were still the same. We could go to work but keep alert and not go anywhere unnecessarily. I went to work and was very pleased to see that the chairs had been put outside the department – this is what Tabari does each morning. The department was quiet but as I sat down to see what the diary had set out for the day (for what it was worth) the door opened and Tabari walked. I was very pleased to see him and he said ‘See, this is how we do elections in Nigeria!!!’ and laughed. He told me he had been in the department the day before at normal time but as I was not there he went home before I got there. He had been fine and his area was not affected by the troubles. He had tried to get to work on Friday but as he came to Gada Biyu he saw the large crowds of people and asked the taxi driver to drop him before he got there and he turned round and went back home.
There was not much to do in the hospital, so I got on with it. I then got a text from Jamie saying that we had a compound meeting at 2pm that everyone needed to be at. Then as I was walking to one of the wards I was met by ********** and ************* (some of the SIM security team). They wanted to speak to me. They said they had made the decision that in light of the rumours of last night that everyone on the Challenge and Pharmacy compounds should move to Miango for the next few days. They said they had decided that it was not worth the risk, if we go out there and nothing happens we are just out of pocket a little but if we stay and something does kick off then we might be at risk. So I quickly saw the patients I needed to and then made my way home. I had some lunch (leftover tuna past bake) and then went to the meeting. We were basically told that we had to go to Miango and needed to pack everything important so that we could leave the country if needed. We were aiming to leave for Miango at 4pm. So I quickly packed what I thought was everything important and sorted the house out. We then had to go the Fretheim’s to get more fuel just in case. Marco had not come to collect my tyre so I had a no spare tyre and a tyre now on the car had a rather worrying bulge in it. I asked *** what I should do if I get another puncture before Miango and he said there is not much. Just leave the car and get to Miango somehow. So I said a few prayers before we left and then tried my best to avoid any holes, bumps or potholes on the roads to protect my tyre. This is easier said than done on the road to Miango but we got there without any troubles. It was quite nice to get out into the countryside and see parts of Plateau State that I had not seen before. We arrived at Miango at about 5.30, got our rooms and then went for dinner. I was sharing a bathroom with Joseph but had my own bedroom. It even had a TV with a news channel – how I have missed the news. The meal was good and then we headed back to our rooms to unpack and then rest.
Wednesday 3rd December 2008 – Tuesday 9th December 2008
We spent 7 days at Miango doing various activities including hikes in the hills around, Ultimate Frisbee, Cities and Knights, volleyball and prayer time. On the Sunday we went to Gyero (my first visit). It was enjoyable being at Miango, but was frustrating that we could not be in Jos doing the work we were supposed to be doing. On Friday it rained – unheard of for this time of year. On the Monday I didn’t feel good – fever, aches and pains, diarrhoea, and then in the middle of the night vomiting. I managed to recover sufficiently and was able to drive back to Jos on the Tuesday.
Wednesday 10th December 2008
I rested today as I was still not well. There was a bit of action though. I was sitting working on my computer when there was lots of honking of car horns out the window, I looked out and lots of cars were doing u-turns and then as I looked out the other window, there were two lanes of traffic going in the same direction away from the centre of town, and then I saw people running from the centre of town and the street traders hurriedly packing up their stalls and taking shelter. Then 2 minutes later everything settled down. It turns out that the stampede had been caused by a swarm of bees causing people to run and then everyone else joining them as they thought things were kicking off again. Apparently a couple of people died in the rush as cars and people ran for their lives.
