Scores of
Nigerians travel to Libya daily with the hope of landing in Europe by boat
through the Mediterranean.
With the
assistance of the International Organisation for Migration on Tuesday, about
161 Nigerians returned voluntarily from Libya after being detained for several
months in the country.
The horde of
‘better life seeking’ Nigerians, who had travelled to the North African country
with the hope of crossing to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea in search of
jobs, arrived Lagos thanking their Creator for bringing them home safely.
This is just
as several of them confessed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that their
quest for greener pastures abroad had left them scarred.
One of the
returnees, Miss Bridget Akeamo, an indigene of Anambra State, said her parents
decided to send her to Italy when all hopes of securing a job after graduation
faded.
Bridget, who
said she left Nigeria August last year, was four months pregnant when she
returned.
She said she
was arrested by immigration officials while trying to cross to Italy from
Libya.
Bridget
said, “Ever since then, I have been moved from one prison to another until I
was taken to a detention camp in Tripoli.
“We were
subjected to inhuman treatment while in prison, from the food we ate to the
water we drank.
“Most of the
young ladies in detention camp were repeatedly raped by Libyan officials; and
if you refused their advances, it would be hell for you.
“Thank God I
am back in Nigeria. I know all hope is not lost, but it is painful that I will
begin from scratch again with my unborn child.”
Stanley
Iduh, a 34-year-old indigene of Delta State, told NAN that he was tricked by an
agent popularly known as “Burger,” who promised to facilitate his journey to
Spain through Libya.
He said that
when his hope of crossing into Spain was dashed in Libya, he decided to stay
back and work there.
He said, “I
worked in a tile producing company and their salary was good, but
unfortunately, I cannot save my money in the bank. I lived with other
Nigerians. I dug a hole in the ground and hid my money in it.
“Unfortunately,
one day, some Libyans came, kidnapped us and inflicted punishment on us. They
asked us to call our relations back in Nigeria and tell them to send N300,000
as our ransom.
“The
$200,000 that I saved disappeared; they moved us to another place until we got
to detention camp.
“Nigerians
should be discouraged from travelling to Libya because they don’t see us as
human beings. Our ladies were dehumanised by Libyan officials. It is very
painful.”
Iduh, who
said he sold the house left by his late father before travelling to Libya,
urged the federal and state governments as well as wealthy Nigerians to create
job for the youths.
“It was
because I was jobless for three years that I was cajoled to travel abroad to
look for greener pasture. I am back in the country after eight months,
devastated and humiliated. I have gone to look for greener pasture, but here I
am today; I have brought nothing green back home,” he said; with tears running
down his cheeks.
Paul and
Marvellous Isikhuemhen are twin brothers who travelled to Libya in March and
May 2016 respectively in search of better life.
Marvellous
told NAN that they regretted travelling out of the country because of the
bitter encounter they had in Libya.
He said
though they secured good jobs in a publishing house in Libya, “it was a case of
suffering and smiling’’ until they were given the opportunity to return home
through the IOM.
The brothers
urged the Nigerian government to stop young ladies from travelling to Libya,
saying they were molested by Libyan immigration officials.
They said
most Nigerian ladies bribe Nigerian immigration officers to secure travel
documents to travel to Libya, adding that most of the children brought back
home by these ladies have no fathers.
“I can
boldly tell you that the children you are seeing in their hands and those
pregnant ladies are products of Libyan immigration officers,” one of them said.
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