Many Nigerians are hesitant to travel at night, especially along routes considered red zones due to security challenges – banditry and kidnappings On Friday, September 1, 2024, we missed our flight from Yola to Abuja. The next day, Saturday, September 2, 2024, we decided to embark on an adventurous road trip from Yola to Abuja. We left Yola early in the morning, around 6 a.
m., and reached the village of Lafiya Lamurde by a few minutes before 8 a.m.
Lafiya Lamurde is about 90 km away from Yola. There, we encountered a security roadblock with several vehicles parked. Every Saturday is sanitation day in Adamawa State, so we were required to wait until 10 a.
m. when normal activities would resume. However, the road was opened 15 minutes earlier, at 9:45 a.
m., allowing us to continue our journey toward Gombe. A few kilometres before reaching Gombe, we had a flat tire caused by our driver’s reckless overtaking on a sharp bend.
An articulated vehicle had broken down on the road, and our vehicle struck some rocks while swerving to avoid it. We stopped to change the tire, only to discover that there was neither a jack nor a wheel spanner in the car. Fortunately, the driver of the vehicle we had overtaken sensed the danger and stopped to assist us.
With his help, we changed the tire and continued on to Gombe, where we bought a new tire, visited some acquaintances, and proceeded toward Bauchi. We arrived in Bauchi around 3:30 p.m.
After stopping at a fuel station to refuel the car, w.