Hey bloggers! I apologize once again for not updating my blog in such a long time. So there's this problem that's been bugging me for some time now. I don't get enough sleep at night because I keep thinking that someone has broken into our home. The slightest noise keeps me up, and this drives my hubby crazy too because this means that he doesn't get enough sleep either. Why do I keep freaking out like this? Well, it all started a few years ago back in Nigeria. My family and I were robbed at gun point and let's just say that I've never recovered from that incident. The unfortunate thing is this was the second time it happened to us. The first robbery occurred on Christmas Day in '88 on our way back home from church. Christmas was never the same for me after that, but that's another story. Going back to the original story, my mum came over to my room trying to wake me up. I remember just getting mad and wondering what she was doing in my room at 3am waking me up. I was pretending not to notice anything, when she whispered "CNL get up.....armed robbers!". That was enough to keep me wide awake. We went on to my brother's room to get him and then got my grandmother, who was staying with us at the time. My mum got everyone into her room and and we tried calling the police and even friends but to no avail. So we all waited. It was pure torture listening these men cut through the burglary-proof window bars, walking around the house trying to figure out where we were. Even worse, the very inefficient NEPA had decided to perform their magical act and so we were in darkness. The men proceeded to the staircase and were apparently trying to open up the gate ( we had a gate at the top of the stairs!), when I noticed that the phone was on (we used one of those multilinks phones if you know what I mean). I unplugged it in order not to arouse any suspicion that we had called the police. I turned to look at my mother and with the little moonlight seeping through the window, noticed she was thoughtfully looking back at me. She then grabbed the sheets off her bed and wrapped me in them, pushing me to the back to the room just as the men entered. The next thing I remembered was the men shouting and telling us to lie down (naija people know the drill!). My mother was asked for the money in the house which she gave to them, including her second wedding ring (the first was stolen during the last robbery). They opened up her closet and threw her clothes and also my dad's (he was out of town) to the floor, looking for other valuables. I'm not entirely sure that they noticed me because clothes were thrown on me and they just moved around like I wasn't there. The one who was obviously the leader took pity on my grandmother, and asked her to seat on the bed. He actually started a conversation with her, explaining the reason for their actions which was the state of the country and also because they couldn't find any other jobs! I just remember thinking... really? Just as they got up to leave, the leader turned to my mother and said “I was told by your security guard that you had a daughter (he had been threatened and tied up). Where is she?!”. You know how one shivers during a bout of fever or malaria? Well, that's what happened to me. Lol! I was shaking so much that I thought that I would be seen for sure. My mother managed to distract them by saying that she had no daughter, and that they could take the car if they wanted. I still think that was one of my mother's finest moments. She was extremely brave that night but was injured in the process. One of the stupid men dropped his gun on her foot thus wounding her. The funny thing was she didn't even notice the wound until after they had left.
To this day, we are extremely grateful to God that nothing worse happened to our family. I know that there are other people out there who haven't been as fortunate. I still have nightmares to this day and really strict about security in my home, even in this country. It doesn't help when I call home and hear stories about similar incidents. My hope is that Nigeria's economy is improved so that our people can stop living in poverty. It only breeds sadness and crime resulting in violence.
