Driving North Africa to Cameroon

Has anyone driven this route lately via Algeria, Niger and Nigeria, Cameroon, how safe did you find it? reports don't look good, Bandits/armed robbers, land mines, kidnappings particularly in sub sahara. Any info much appreciated, subject to safety a friend and i are planning to drive down to Cameroon from the UK later this year.

I had friends go from Swallendam, SA up to Holland a few years ago. Well-seasoned, with lots of sub-Saharan miles. They took six months and said they were only terrified about a month of it. Niger, Chad and a couple other places. That was 3 years ago. Can't have gotten any better.