Nigeria travel

[ymfb]

I’ve been asked to go to Nigeria for work. It’s in an amber shaded area on the FCDO website and our travel insurance provider will cover the usual things. But are at pains to advise hijack, kidnap and ransom cover is excluded!

I don’t have to go but I think it might be better if I did.

My feeling is it was probably more dangerous crossing the US but at least I was covered for hijack, kidnap and ransom.

What do the worldly travel tossers think?

 

[Loiq]

we've had K+R cover for different places, it only works if they also provide ground handlers. Which your employer will need to sort out...

the high end medical cover from i-SOS was good when I needed it....

www.internationalsos.com

 

[landmarkjohn]

If you don't have to put yourself at risk why do it?

 

[Daffy]

A lad that worked for me went about 15 years ago, he took pot noodles and sweets and pretty much lived on that whilst he was there - he was apparently in the best hotel in the town (can’t remember where) and the photos were just grim and I mean really grim.

From a work perspective, our policy was if kidnap insurance is excluded then take a specialist policy as they are experienced at resolving those type of issues so you won’t be chained to a radiator for too long.

 

[twizzle]

Same here, but I’ve got to go to Cape Town in Feb…. Nigeria, unlucky.

 

[Berin]

Mrs Berin has been for work a few times. They have a policy that includes cover from international SOS, which provided heli evac, some close protection, and medivac. All travel is in a private transport, never public taxi, with some close protection guy.
I don’t think I’d go without that cover.

I’ve been but years ago. It was a bit Wild West especially getting out of the airport

 

[DrFarkoff]

I’ve been asked to go to Nigeria for work. It’s in an amber shaded area on the FCDO website and our travel insurance provider will cover the usual things. But are at pains to advise hijack, kidnap and ransom cover is excluded!

I don’t have to go but I think it might be better if I did.

My feeling is it was probably more dangerous crossing the US but at least I was covered for hijack, kidnap and ransom.

What do the worldly travel tossers think?

@ymfb

When Bureau Veritas engineers that I worked with on Gas and Oil projects were talking about the worst places in the world they had worked

Nigeria, One saw a whole crew from a neighbouring village chopped up with machetes and the remains thrown over the side, they missed the last pier where those guys should have got off in the fog! The Bureau guy was brought to the bridge with the other Europeans and the Nigerian army guys had their SLRs pointed at the melee and when they were asked to do something They said that they couldn;t they were not allowed Only if the villagers came for the Europeans

Yemen (my Mate Ian was handed an AK47 when he got to camp shown how to load it, rack it and click off the safety and fire only short bursts!)

Ethiopia similar stories from a couple of guys about being handed ballistic armour and taught to use a weapon but not to open carry as that made them a target !

Were right up top of the list !

My dad was there in the 80s and corruption was rife back then I doubt it has improved much over the years !!

His contract was with a Big time Tribal chief who lived in Lagos but his hometown was Onitsha

Dad had Guards and drivers and was escorted everywhere

The price of life is zero out there!

If you were to go and assist someone after they were beaten or knocked down you are then responsible for that person! That is so why so many simply walk away !

As to my Input??

I would be looking, a Danger money agreement upfront ! Extra £250 per day or whatever rate that you perceive correct

I would be looking for assurance from teh client that there would be trusted staff / guards at all times

 

[Loiq]

google granger telecom kidnapping that's a pretty much a prefect way to get it wrong

folks do go there for work and the numbers that get pranged up is low, then again AJ Antony Joshua was in a car crash and the car looked armoured/ hardened.... so it can happen, it usually happens when your not expecting it...

go have a look, I think travel enriches the mind....

 

[zoltan]

What do the worldly travel tossers think?

Nigeria is massive, you are not saying where you are going. In the Delta unless you have guards you can forget it. We have a friend who works there, 3 months on 3 months off on a barge. SA chap. The entire North is "DO NOT TRAVEL", due to the flip flops.

Outfit I work for use this service https://www.internationalsos.com/services/travel-risk-management, one perk is that I & my family can use it on private journeys. I have an app and can make direct request for help or information. Hugely efficient, during 7/10 the entire foreign staff was evacuated in less than 24 hours. Considering everything was shut down I was impressed. For insurance they have partners with the big boys https://www.internationalsos.com/about-us/partners/insurers-brokers
I think @Loiq is talking about the same outfit.

 

[Loiq]

I think Loiq is talking about the same outfit.

it is, we used them in Haiti and into south america

 

[simondippenhall]

Rode from one side of Nigeria to the other in 2018 on my 2003 1150GS, it was fine (although a bit warm at times)

 

[Richeyroo]

I was there in 1992 with the Royal Navy and prostitutes were (apparently) a couple a dollars for as long as you wanted plus free beer so the lads chucked 20 dollars in each and had a whale of a time. One of the greatest runs ashore ever apparently.

I went back in 1995 on my motorbike with my girlfriend whilst in transit to Cameroon and got arrested and we were put in jail for 24 hours for being spys, we stayed in the Silver Jubilee Hotel in Lagos with a host who couldn’t have been more proud of being a Commonwealth citizen and we got got stopped a gazillion times at road checks

At one a soldier stole our multi vitamin tablets off us so my girlfriend spun him round, pushed his AK out of the way and snatched our tablets back. I have never been more scared in my life

As we approached the Cameron border we thought we heard thunder amongst the rain but carried on. Who knew that the 2 countries were at war over a border dispute. Certainly not us in the pre internet age. Great days

A bonkers country , hope you enjoy it

 

[DrFarkoff]

I was there in 1992 with the Royal Navy and prostitutes were (apparently) a couple a dollars for as long as you wanted plus free beer so the lads chucked 20 dollars in each and had a whale of a time. One of the greatest runs ashore ever apparently.

Lucky your willy didn't fall off!!!

 

[Richeyroo]

Lucky your willy didn't fall off!!!

I was a lowly Sub Lieutenant at some boring cocktail party or other embassy things so fortunately had a decent excuse not to be there
This was still when HIV was extremely prevalent and we’d only left the UK 4 or 5 weeks previously. Certainly eye opening for a young chap to sit up on the bridge after sailing and hear the stories

 

[fatbastard]

Remember to get your vaccinations.

 

[Aidan1150]

@ymfb

When Bureau Veritas engineers that I worked with on Gas and Oil projects were talking about the worst places in the world they had worked

Nigeria, One saw a whole crew from a neighbouring village chopped up with machetes and the remains thrown over the side, they missed the last pier where those guys should have got off in the fog! The Bureau guy was brought to the bridge with the other Europeans and the Nigerian army guys had their SLRs pointed at the melee and when they were asked to do something They said that they couldn;t they were not allowed Only if the villagers came for the Europeans

Yemen (my Mate Ian was handed an AK47 when he got to camp shown how to load it, rack it and click off the safety and fire only short bursts!)

Ethiopia similar stories from a couple of guys about being handed ballistic armour and taught to use a weapon but not to open carry as that made them a target !

Were right up top of the list !

My dad was there in the 80s and corruption was rife back then I doubt it has improved much over the years !!

His contract was with a Big time Tribal chief who lived in Lagos but his hometown was Onitsha

Dad had Guards and drivers and was escorted everywhere

The price of life is zero out there!

If you were to go and assist someone after they were beaten or knocked down you are then responsible for that person! That is so why so many simply walk away !

As to my Input??

I would be looking, a Danger money agreement upfront ! Extra £250 per day or whatever rate that you perceive correct

I would be looking for assurance from teh client that there would be trusted staff / guards at all times

2nd hand stories from 40+ years ago are hardly relevant to travel today ffs.

 

[Loiq]

Remember to get your vaccinations.

keep your certificates of vaccinations and have a digital folder with it all tucked away... nothing worse than having to bribe some crooks to get a jakey fakey knocked up on the fly

 

[ymfb]

It’s looking unlikely that I will be going, it will be done virtually and possibly an engineer from SA will check it off. The destination is in one of the FCDOs amber areas and will remain undisclosed.

Thanks for all your inputs.

 

[Northern jock]

I was there in 1992 with the Royal Navy and prostitutes were (apparently) a couple a dollars for as long as you wanted plus free beer so the lads chucked 20 dollars in each and had a whale of a time. One of the greatest runs ashore ever apparently.

I went back in 1995 on my motorbike with my girlfriend whilst in transit to Cameroon and got arrested and we were put in jail for 24 hours for being spys, we stayed in the Silver Jubilee Hotel in Lagos with a host who couldn’t have been more proud of being a Commonwealth citizen and we got got stopped a gazillion times at road checks

At one a soldier stole our multi vitamin tablets off us so my girlfriend spun him round, pushed his AK out of the way and snatched our tablets back. I have never been more scared in my life

As we approached the Cameron border we thought we heard thunder amongst the rain but carried on. Who knew that the 2 countries were at war over a border dispute. Certainly not us in the pre internet age. Great days

A bonkers country , hope you enjoy it

I went by in 1996, the north was one of the best bits of Africa at the time, really laid back and friendly. The endless police blocks were a challenge to get them to smile, maybe share a brew in the more remote areas and get their stories. Corruption and violence were much more readily available in the south.

To the OP, now not going, I’ve been for work and you stand out for that reason, how you travel, where you stay, guards with you etc and wouldn’t go without kidnap insurance on a work trip, it happens more often that you think but isn’t publicised, happened to a lad I worked with. Our security’s advice was, if you are caught in a kidnap scenario, tell your guards to put their weapons down and walk away, you’re more likely to get killed in the excitable gunfire. I had that once when a blacked out minibus forced its way between the Hilux in the front (3 guns) and the Landcruiser, myself, driver and one gun) and stopped. The guard shouted the alert, turned out the lad had just stalled his engine.
If kidnapped, generally you get thrown in a pit/hovel, chained to the wall and given survival rations while they demand a ransom. You are unlikely to die there as you are then worthless but you’ll probably get malaria and certainly traumatised and a bit of a kicking when they’re bored. Negotiating can take a week or two as they start very high, as in millions. Without insurance?

There’s a low grade film about it, I found it rather close to the bone. I’ll see if I can find it.

Edit: Blood and Oil was a BBC one. There are others if you search kidnapping in the Niger Delta. Best watched after a visit, not before.

 

[Berin]

Nigeria is massive, you are not saying where you are going. In the Delta unless you have guards you can forget it. We have a friend who works there, 3 months on 3 months off on a barge. SA chap. The entire North is "DO NOT TRAVEL", due to the flip flops.

Outfit I work for use this service https://www.internationalsos.com/services/travel-risk-management, one perk is that I & my family can use it on private journeys. I have an app and can make direct request for help or information. Hugely efficient, during 7/10 the entire foreign staff was evacuated in less than 24 hours. Considering everything was shut down I was impressed. For insurance they have partners with the big boys https://www.internationalsos.com/about-us/partners/insurers-brokers
I think @Loiq is talking about the same outfit.

That’s also the firm Mrs Berin’s company uses. Riderbob, late of this parish and sadly late in every sense, worked for them. He was ex Aussie special forces an definitely someone you would want on your side of the playground if it all went tits up.
A man of few words and sorely missed.