Safety in Abuja-December Holidays

Hallo ma peoples!!! Been a Minute ba, no vex biko, i've been swamped with so many events and work and have sooo many draft pending posts... *sigh. Anyway, back to the matter, we are in December, the last of the 'Ember Months' signalling the end of the year, like play like play 2015 don dey waka go .

I love December, its the month of Christmas, hubby's birthday, my birthday, holiday from work, last month of the year and usually full of weddings and events. *bigGrin. This December though, the Nigerian people and Economy is suffering from 'Buharitisis' a.k.a money no dey in circulation. Since Buhari became the Presido, contracts haven't been issued (people dey fear), sack letter dey flow like water, $ rate don almost reach 300 naira (lets not talk about Pounds), thieves have been caught (i like this sha, the Dokpesi's, Dasuki's and their fellow barawos-i just hope justice prevails eventually), fuel scarcity, etc.

Country tight now as you can see from the above, the streets are not smiling and those that are not making an honest living have become more desperate. Everybody wan go village do yanga and celebrate this Christmas, by fire, by force. God help us that are working hard for our income and bless the work of our hands and keep us safe. There is more insecurity during this period and i'm just going to write below a few pointers to help us stay safe especially in Abuja.

• Try not to stay out too late especially if you do not have a car and if you have to, have a friend or 2 with you
• Be aware of your surroundings
• If you own a car and reside in Abuja (especially around Wuse 2), please try not to park in areas without proper security (especially @night) and even when you do, please do not leave any valuables in your car or boot. (Our car was robbed sometime in October, the back window was broken and they were able to open the car and stole my handbag from the boot; luckily i got my bag back, but that's story for another post)
• If you own a car, please always lock all your doors at all times, especially when approaching a speed bump or at a red light. It has become common practice for thieves to run out of nowhere, open car doors and grab what they can within reach (your bag, phone, etc.) in a flash and dash off into the blue before you even comprehend what even happened. Sometimes they (heard sometimes they are oiled up) will even try to drag things out of the hand of the person in the passenger seat (this happened to my friend)
• If you are entering a cab, please be extremely cautious and try to evaluate the personality of the driver while pricing, when a price is agreed on,ask him to open the door from inside (this is to ensure that the child lock is not enabled and in case of any issue, you can get out ASAP). 
• If you are entering a cab, ask to check the boot, to make sure there's no one hiding in there, some cars have back seats that fold and open into the car and quite a number of people have gotten robbed in this way
• If you are entering a cab, i'd advise you seat in the back seat, preferably directly behind the driver, its harder for the driver to attack you in this position if he has such intentions and you can easily tuck and roll out of the car in such a situation
• If you are entering a cab, check to see that the door locks are present and if they are automatic and the type you can manually open if necessary
• If you are entering a cab, please evaluate the cab even from afar even before stopping it, check that it has a proper plate no; the necessary cab no.s painted on it, etc. An unpainted cab (not green&white) can be riskier to take
• If you want to take a cab, you can use the Easy Taxi or Uber app to get one from the comfort of your home, though the prices may be a bit higher that if you get one by the roadside, it is wayyyyy safer. Their drivers are registered with them and can be traced if anything goes wrong.
• If possible, have a pepper spray or small tazer on you at all times in case of an attack, so you can defend youself
• I do not advise entering cars that already have passengers (a.k.a 'Along') especially if they are all men or only one female in the car, i believe buses are actually safer for such trips
• If you are walking on the sidewalk, keep your bag, etc. properly closed and on the shoulder away from the road, hold on to it tightly to avoid having something stolen from it (pickpockets) or having it snatched from you 
• Do not sleep in cab and mind d convos (phone calls) u have,
• Do not leave ur bag/valuables to step out for a bit, use an ATM, etc. and come back. You can end up having something stolen or he zooms off with all ur stuff,
• Keep ur belongings closed n out of arms reach of the cab driver
• If possible have a consistent cab guy with a detailed record of his car and personal data in case of any issues
• Keep you house gates and doors locked and try to avoid crowded places (Boko Haram is still active)

Stay safe my peoples, country hard but by God's grace e no go hard for us and we will be out of the reach of these desperados.

Toodles!XooX

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