How I was Sold To Libya, Drank Urine Daily As Meal; We Saw Hell - Woman-returnee Recounts Ordeal
A lady, Miss Gift Peters, who was among the fresh batch of 171 Nigerians deported from Libya has narrated her ordeal.
She recounted how she got to Libya 11 months ago after being deceived that she was being taken to Germany.
Recall that barely a week after no fewer than 162 Nigerians were brought back by the Federal Government from Libya another batch of 171 Nigerians were Tuesday deported.
The lady, speaking with newsmen on her arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, said it was better to die than face the hardship in Libya.
The Delta State indigene said, “When I got to Libya, it was not in my mind to continue with the journey. So I asked the person that took me to return me to Nigeria but he started maltreating me and sold me to someone who has a connection house in Libya where we were maltreated daily.
“If we don’t want to work, they will start maltreating us. They will do you something that you will wish to die.
“Those who they sold us to, sometimes, use iron and start burning us. At times, they will instruct our fellow ladies to urinate for us to drink as meal for the day.
“I managed to eventually contact my family in Nigeria and I was fortunate to make it back alive unlike many of my peers who joined me on the ill-fated journey.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who received the returnees, commended the International Organization for Migration, IOM, for facilitating the return of the Nigerians.
She said, “Like I told them, they are not criminals; these are people that have gone in search of greener pastures. However, it turned out to be a terrible experience for them.
“They shouldn’t be ashamed of themselves. Now they are back home and Mr. President has personally conveyed his greetings to them and to let them know that they are back in Nigeria and there is no better time than now.
“Times are tough, things are difficult but your country is the best place to be.
“The question is, how long are we going to keep evacuating them? So there is going to be another evacuation and a final one when we will tell Nigerians who are stranded in Libya to come back home.
“The message here is that illegal migration is not worth it because as tough as the country is today, you are better off here than being in those places,” she noted.
A lady, Miss Gift Peters, who was among the fresh batch of 171 Nigerians deported from Libya has narrated her ordeal.
She recounted how she got to Libya 11 months ago after being deceived that she was being taken to Germany.
Recall that barely a week after no fewer than 162 Nigerians were brought back by the Federal Government from Libya another batch of 171 Nigerians were Tuesday deported.
The lady, speaking with newsmen on her arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, said it was better to die than face the hardship in Libya.
The Delta State indigene said, “When I got to Libya, it was not in my mind to continue with the journey. So I asked the person that took me to return me to Nigeria but he started maltreating me and sold me to someone who has a connection house in Libya where we were maltreated daily.
“If we don’t want to work, they will start maltreating us. They will do you something that you will wish to die.
“Those who they sold us to, sometimes, use iron and start burning us. At times, they will instruct our fellow ladies to urinate for us to drink as meal for the day.
“I managed to eventually contact my family in Nigeria and I was fortunate to make it back alive unlike many of my peers who joined me on the ill-fated journey.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who received the returnees, commended the International Organization for Migration, IOM, for facilitating the return of the Nigerians.
She said, “Like I told them, they are not criminals; these are people that have gone in search of greener pastures. However, it turned out to be a terrible experience for them.
“They shouldn’t be ashamed of themselves. Now they are back home and Mr. President has personally conveyed his greetings to them and to let them know that they are back in Nigeria and there is no better time than now.
“Times are tough, things are difficult but your country is the best place to be.
“The question is, how long are we going to keep evacuating them? So there is going to be another evacuation and a final one when we will tell Nigerians who are stranded in Libya to come back home.
“The message here is that illegal migration is not worth it because as tough as the country is today, you are better off here than being in those places,” she noted.
