A lady, Miss Gift Peters, who was among the fresh batch of 171 Nigerians deported from Libya has narrated her ordeal, Daily Post reports.
She recounted how she got to Libya 11 months ago after being deceived that she was being taken to Germany.
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.
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