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Missing British citizen in Nigeria... Need advice..?

I am writing this letter out of concern for a British citizen and friend who resides in the USA. Recently, he traveled to Nigeria on work-related business - archaeological related work. He had problems from the very start. Up arriving in Nigeria, he had his luggage seized while crossing the Benin-Nigerian border. He was obligated to pay $2,500 in order to get his luggage returned (his travelers checks were inside of his luggage). It took him two weeks to raise the $2,500 fee in order to get his luggage back. All this time he had no money in his possession. He learned a valuable lesson. One should never leave travelers checks in one’s luggage. Next, he deposited his travelers checks in to a Nigerian bank. He was told by the Nigerian bank that it would take 15 working days for the checks to clear the financial institution. All along he thought that the bank would clear his travelers checks sooner than later, so you can imagine how he felt when he was told it would take 15 days. That seemed like an eternity to him. Nearly four weeks had passed and he still had not paid the hotel fee for his stay at the hotel. By then the bill was exceeding $3,000 U.S. dollars. He was being pressured by hotel management to pay his hotel bill or else. He expressed to me that he felt his life was in danger. He conveyed to me that his travelers checks would clear the bank on 19 March 2009. My last contact with him was three days ago. I do not know what has happened to my friend. It is unusual for him to go this long without talking to me. We always communicate on a daily basis via the internet. He may have been arrested or killed. He may have been kicked out of the hotel. Is there someone who can help him or intervene in this situation? I have no way of knowing what has happened to him. I would consider this a missing person's case. I have written a letter to the British Embassy in Nigeria but they still haven't replied. Is that basically all that can be done for him? ONLY SERIOUS RESPONSES PLEASE... Preferably individuals who are familiar with Nigerian laws and/or culture... I have no address or phone number to the hotel. I have done a search on the hotel but to no avail. All I have is the name of the hotel. I communicated with my friends via the internet and not telephone.

Public Comments

1. I would continue to push the Embassy to help you. Contact your local FBI office and see if they will help. Nigeria is not a good place to be. I wish you all the best.
2. You are thinking on the right track, but I don't think a letter was the best means of contact. I would call the Embassy, and keep calling until they are doing something. Nigeria is not a safe country and there are a lot of reasons to be worried about your friend. You could also try calling the hotel your friend was staying at. They may know something. Good luck!!!
3. Have you EVER met this "friend" in person or is this an internet relationship? The reason I ask is because you have written the outline of an old Nigerian scam..... foreigner goes to Nigeria, foreigner falls into financial troubles, foreigner needs assistance to get home, etc.... The punch line comes when you're asked to wire money to assist the foreigner to get out of Nigeria. If you do wire money there will be more trouble that necessitates you to wire additional money..... and so on. Contact the UK Embassy in Lagos, they will tell you exactly what's going on. http://ukinnigeria.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/when-things-go-wrong/ When things go wrong The British High Commission can help in a number of ways if you run into trouble during your time in Nigeria. Telephone: + 234 (1) 261 9531, 261 9537, 261 9541 Facsimile: + 234 (1) 261 4021, 262 5940 or 461 3655 E-mail: consular.lagos@fco.gov.uk Consular Section Public Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday 0830 - 1400 Friday 0830 - 1200 All times GMT+1