Prowling gangs and thieves robbed senior missionary couples, stole the mission president's car, and broke into church buildings and stole computers and other equipment, said Roger Thompson, an attorney and former Salt Lake City councilman who returned in November from an 18-month assignment as executive secretary to the LDS West Africa Area Presidency, which governs the church in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria.

"It's like living in a lawless area," he said.

At one point, the mission president was robbed at gunpoint near the church's temple in Aba, Thompson said.

Still, that's where the vast majority of more than 74,000 Nigerian Mormons live. In 1998, more than 12,000 members came to hear LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley speak in Port Harcourt. They lined the streets in Aba to catch a glimpse of the man they consider to be a "prophet, seer and revelator."

Hinckley chose Aba as the site for the temple because it would be accessible to the greatest number of church members, and he returned for its dedication in August 2005. The large, expensive temple sitting in the midst of extreme poverty created the impression that Mormon missionaries were wealthy and thus good targets, Thompson said.

"It's a beautiful site but Aba is a terrible city. There is a lot of unrest," he said, "The citizenry had days of rioting, banks closed down because they were robbed all the time. Finally the federal or state government brought in troops to calm things down so the banks could reopen."

With elections approaching in April, turmoil and political unrest have increased dramatically.

Thousands of expatriates have fled the country. Rebels have kidnapped more than 40 foreign workers in the Niger Delta since the beginning of January, demanding ransoms from oil companies and workers' home countries. Hostages have mostly been released unharmed.

At one point 40 foreign workers were held by various groups at the same time. At least eight foreign workers are still being held, including two Italians, a Lebanese, a Frenchman and an Iranian woman.

Most recently, three oil workers - two Croatian and one Montenegrin - were kidnapped from a bar in Port Harcourt late Sunday. They worked for Hydrodrive Nigeria, an offshore oil services company.

On Saturday, hostage takers released an American engineer and his Nigerian driver. They were kidnapped Jan. 23, along with a Briton, on their way to work. The Briton was released earlier because of his bad health.

Some militias in the delta have attacked oil facilities or seized hostages to press political demands, such as greater local control over oil revenues or the release of jailed leaders from the region.

"The conventional wisdom is that this will all calm down after the election," Thompson said. "The church is there for the long haul so I hope they work it out." --- RUSS RIZZO and TRIBUNE WIRE SERVICES contributed to this story.