The other weekend there was a robbery at a retreat compound maybe 45 minutes to an hour from Jos. I have not been there, but those I know who have say it is a wonderful place, a beautiful and restful place that missionaries often go to for a break from ministry.
Apparently one Thursday night a band of robbers cut through the fence and went to the house they thought was the manager’s house… it wasn’t. But they took the two females in the house as and went to the manager’s house (they knew that the safe would be in that place). The manager locked in for the night would never have opened his door, but the fact of hostages changed the equation. The robbers stole 300,000N (one missionary family has just cashed out of the bank to make a major purchase the next day… pure luck by the robbers) a couple of computers and some random jewelry. Eventually someone set off an alarm and the band of thieves took off… not harming anyone.
It is now that the story turns African… once the robbers were gone the local vigilantes quickly set into action tracking the robbers. These men are hunters and they can track anything and anyone… for more than 3 hours and 12km they tracked the thieves… often calling ahead to villages in the direction the robbers were running to alert more vigilantes. By the end 300 men were tracking the thieves. As the account goes as the vigilantes were closing in on the robbers the paths was strewn with shoes and clothes and everything they were carrying.
Eventually 10 of the robbers were found in a river with just there heads out of the water trying to hide form these professional trackers… Once captured they readily confess and gave up 7 others who had gone in another direction. The seven were found the next morning.
Why were the robbers so scared of the vigilantes…dropping everything as the hunters neared? I call it frontier justice… all of the robbers, including the 7 found later in the day were killed on the spot after confessing.
There is a bit more to the story. Three years ago 10 members of this group robbed the retreat center. When they were caught that time they were turned over to the police. Sadly, the police were bribed by the families and all the boys (college students) were set free with no punishment.
I guess when the government doesn’t protect you, you protect yourself…
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