Sunday, July 6, 2008


260 Nigerians arrested in Algeria, dumped in desert
By Augustine Madu West, Snr Correspondent, Kano

Some 260 Nigerians arrested by the Algerian authorities for illegally staying in that country have been dumped in the desert where their fate now hangs in the balance.


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Those who managed to escape to Mali and Niger Republic said hundreds of them were rounded up in Oran and Tammarasett, both desert towns, in a raid carried out by Algerian immigration officials, and abandoned in Tizawarty, which is seven miles into the Sahara desert.

They have been exposed to inhuman treatment, just like other immigrants described as illegal; and that has resulted in deaths from lack of food, shelter, and water.

Omo Osas, 27, an indigene of Edo State who made it to Niamey in Niger Republic from the Tizawarty 'death camp,' said he was fortunate to have escaped.

"I was on my way to purchase my ticket to Morocco. I only transited in Oran in Algeria when, suddenly, some policemen emerged and formed a ring around me. They later bundled me into a waiting vehicle without interrogation. I was now taken to their station where I was compelled to sign a document written in Arabic, the content of which I do not understand.

"The following day I was moved to the prison where I also met hundreds of fellow Nigerians with the same tale of woe. It was terribly rough as we lived on a loaf of Obza bread and water throughout our stay in detention," he recalled.

Osas confirmed that many Nigerians still stranded in Tizawarty have developed mental strain as a result of the inhuman treatment meted out to them, which has also forced them to take hard drugs.

"We also gathered that in Kalit, a Malian town bordering Algeria, Nigerian ladies are stranded in large numbers, after being aided to move out Algeria by some suspected Arab human traffickers who ply the route with their trucks and Tuareg rebels who also ferry them out of the danger zone for a fee."

Another victim, Cynthia Ogenyi, recounted that she went to Algeria on the understanding that it would facilitate her journey to Europe, specifically Italy.

Instead, she ended up in the sex trade in Tammarasett.

"I paid a huge sum of money with the hope of crossing into Europe, but after two years outside I am stranded," Cynthia lamented.

"Here am I returning home empty handed. My advice is for other girls to be careful when talked into movement abroad, especially through Libya or Algeria."

But that counsel is hardly heeded.

Hundreds of other Nigerians still take the risk of heading for Europe through the North African countries of Libya, Algeria, and Morocco.

They pass through the Sahara desert axis of Agadez and Arlit in Niger Republic or through Gao in Northern Mali that has become notorious for human trafficking syndicates.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/jul/6/29.html

in the name of going abroad.!!!!!!!

we all need to work for our country so that our brother and sister are not running alway from Nigerian, Europa is not heaven as they put it.

Of all places. Algiers!

It's sad.
A close relative of ours disappeared years ago "on his way to abroad"
We didn't even see any dead body to bury
which is the hardest thing for his family to deal with.
He must have died in this wretched way.

14 are missing since yesterday, GOD help us from this abroad ooh.