Legacy continued

...below you'll see Prof Godwin explaining the walking tour, the amazing art deco horse sculptures, who had to undergo gender change as females were ordered and stallions received, so they just chopped of the ..., I was told they also actually fell down their balconies once after a storm and killed a few people, so they are now strapped to the building) that grace the now defunt racecourse (the governor in state needed a parade ground and the beautiful racecourse was concreted in and is now being used for all sorts of parades)and below that picture a very old colonial house which was believed to have been the home of a government official built in 1900.
And this is where my big fright took place.
We (about 30 participants of all manner of origin-American, German, French and some Nigerians) walked around the corner listening to our guide about this house, everyone with their stupid heavy big cameras with massive telephoto lenses (why do people still schlepp this stuff around?) when we were rushed by about 10 huge guys in military camouflage and AK 47's demanding our cameras among lots of intimidating pushing, shoving and shouting.
I tried to hang back and more or less disappear in the crowd (making myself invisible seemed the best strategy) whilst our guide tried to diffuse the situation to the best of his ability. They wanted none of that! And started wrestling with a brave little American girl who would not let go of her expensive equipment and was technically dragged down the road on her camera strap. She offered them her memory card out of her camera but as one of the Nigerians was saying 'they don't want the photos, they want the camera'...
What a nightmare but I must be careful what I'm saying as it struck me that this country is at any time on the verge of another military junta and the state of this young democracy is fragile to say the least and as an outsider I'm more than likely under surveillance. I kid you not.
Anyway, after about 30 minutes the Colonel arrived and told his army of mentally disabled soldiers (I was told they have to be like that because they are trained to kill) to lay off of us and we eventually continued the walk-shaken but not stirred.
Here are some photos of the architecture of some churches built by missionaries of the various Christian faiths (who's business of selling life after death is very profitable indeed and the only industry, apart from the raping of the country of its oil, is the only thing that is making serious money in Nigeria)) and the amazing Old Secretariats' legal library which houses legal texts from way back and from many countries-sadly all in a terrible state of disrepair.
The Salvation Army has also been there for a long time and the old Brazilian quarter was a sight to behold.