Nigerian hikers blaze trails amid sense of insecurity
With no trail post in sight, the unmarked dirt lot outside the Nigerian capital seemed an unlikely place to hike — but fans of the great outdoors in Abuja have long taken matters into their own hands.
"Most of the trails in Abuja are not properly mapped," said Adebayo Babatunde, founder of Naija Adventurers, adding it was a shame "because nature is a beautiful place where we all need to connect back to".
The group and a handful of others have cropped up to provide a service the government has long left untouched, organising hikes in a city where, despite being ringed by verdant hills, public trails are virtually non-existent.
More than 400 people made the trip, a short, 2.5-kilometre jaunt up the steep, rocky outcrops that jut out of the central Nigerian plains.
"It keeps me fit," said Jeremiah Makpum, a 32-year-old regular, adding that the large group presence helps him feel safe — not a small thing in a country suffering from regular fighter violence and violent kidnap-for-ransom gangs.
Naija Adventurers, like the other half-dozen or so hiking groups in Abuja, doesn't reveal the exact location of its hikes until its members have met up to carpool.
An advance team goes out in the days before to scope out the trails, which are not made for hiking but rather used by farmers or livestock herders.
While the hike was a welcome reprieve from the group's longer, more punishing day trips, it was still augmented by the usual slew of volunteer organisers and medical personnel — and armed security.
"If anything happens you'll be amazed the amount of guns that will come out from plainclothes volunteers, said Esesua Adeyemi, another organiser.
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