The story of Africans on the Mediterranean Sea, the Battle of life and death Journey…Why do African Youths Embark on this Illegal Trip?
I’m using this Fearing Tale of Monday and his Brother Osas at the Mediterranean Sea to torchlight what others might have equally gone through but nobody might live to tell the story afterward. It’s a true life story which Sun News prompts me to investigate, and my findings were real.
It’s a story that would send minds racing, an agonizing tale that would leave everyone contemplating what it feels like to be seconds away from death.
A man from this particular family told me how his brother perished in the Mediterranean Sea, as two of them journeyed illegally to Europe in a rickety boat.
The two brothers from Edo State – Monday and Osas Amanmien – had embarked on the deadly voyage across the angry Mediterranean Sea, intent on hitting Italy where they hoped to make a better living. But the trip turned sour midway, leaving Monday dead. He drowned in the sea following a boat wreck.
Question arising 1. Is there actually a better living in Italy for these illegal migrants as they presumed? This is a question to answer later as we continue with the true life story

Although Osas miraculously survived the disaster, he had to endure one hellish hour, hopelessly floating on an empty keg and being brutally buffeted by the bullish, restless waves. And now, he lives with the eternal trauma of the last words of his brother. Monday had said, in a desperate tone: “My keg dey leak ooo,” before he finally went down.

Osas says his brother drowned so that he might live. He recalled that when it became obvious that the boat was destined to go down, Monday summoned courage and seized two empty water kegs beside him. One was good, the other was bad. He gave his younger one the better keg so that he would be afloat and live while he struggled with the bad keg. He eventually drowned, Osas said. Not even his dead body was retrieved.
Both brothers, who hailed from Benin, had joined the bandwagon of African migrants des-perately trooping to Europe to escape the harsh economic realities at home.
Monday and Osas had left Benin one morn¬ing, and embarked on the trip to Europe. The two brothers, alongside others, were on the road. They travelled through Sokoto up to Nia¬mey, Agades and Duruku in Niger Republic, enduring the grilling, sahel weather. Finally they landed in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. And from there, they boarded a dingy, overloaded speedboat headed for Italy. But they had the expansive Mediterranean Sea to contend with.
The reporter learnt that before the brothers launched out on the sea journey, they were for weeks holed up in a Libyan ghetto, a camp for travellers. They could not set sail for Italy be¬cause they were told that the sea was rough, a development that could make their boat to capsize.
All the same, all the travellers in the camp, including Osas and Monday, were excited. They were further delighted when they were told by their agents that they could embark on the journey and that the sea was no longer furious.
On the said day, Monday and Osas were to be ferried by agents who operated the ‘Gha¬na Poli Two.’ The migrants paid their agents several thousands of Libyan Dinars, which, when converted, was about N170, 000 as their transport fare to Italy. As usual, hundreds of migrants fleeing Africa were in the number. They boarded the large boat and said fervent prayers for safety at sea.
Everything was calm as they set sail. With Europe on their minds, everyone was confi¬dent of the good life that lay ahead. Everyone began growing in confidence. Then midway into the journey, every prediction crumbled like a pack of cards. Soon, the unthinkable happened just as they were about to celebrate their successful entry into Italian waters. The boat developed a fault. Then a big crack ma¬terialised right at a very important part of the boat. It began to let in water, first in small quantities and then in very massive propor¬tions. Before the jubilant migrants could re¬alise what was amiss, sea water had penetrated and overpowered the hapless craft. Then it began to sink. Fear gripped everyone. Danger and death stared everyone in the face as the end drew near.
At that point, everyone burst out into prayers. Everyone began to pray in various tongues. But that seemed useless. With the waves lashing unrelentingly at the sinking boat, death and disaster appeared a touching distance away. Confusion and uncertainty set in. In no time, the water overshadowed the boat, leaving the migrants at the mercy of the deep, blue sea.
There was no rescue team in sight. To make matter worse, Osas and Monday could not swim. Those that could swim were able to sus¬pend and sustain themselves on the water for close to an hour before help finally came.
Monday had quickly grabbed two empty jerry cans he found beside him. He handed one to Osas and held one to serve as lifeline. But unfortunately, the one that Monday had began to let in water.
The reporter was told that Monday deliber¬ately held on to the bad one at his own risk; he wanted his younger brother saved. But in a matter of minutes, the brave Monday went down the sea and drowned. His terrified broth¬er cried out to his brother. But he was gone, never to be seen again.
Many others in the boat also suffered the same fate with Monday. For those who could swim at least, Providence smiled on them when the Italian rescue team showed up and came to their rescue. They were taken to a refugee camp near Napoli in Italy.
Recalling the ugly tale from Italy recently, Osas told the reporter: “That was actually the first time my late brother and I travelled on wa¬ter. It was about 8:00am Libyan time. We were sailing to Italy on the Mediterranean Sea. The weather was bright and everything appeared very much okay. Though we were somehow afraid, there were no signs of danger before us.
“The boat was moving very fast. Our minds were actually filled with various thoughts. Some were happy and singing, while others were calm. My brother and I belonged to the group that was calm. But I had this strange feeling which l could not tell.
“The sea was blue and nothing was before and behind us. The only thing I could see was a point that looked like where the sky was touching the sea. Anytime I looked at the sea, I was always scared, but my brother sensed it and he tried to calm me.
“Sitting next to me, his presence was like a pillar of strength to me. Anytime l looked at his face, it gave me the hope that I was not alone in the journey. Later on, the weather changed and became very cold. I quietly asked myself what pushed me to embark on
such journey. At that point, so many other thoughts began racing through my mind.
“Then suddenly, someone shouted: “Hey! We are already in Italian territory!” We all started ...continue the story >>> http://naijaoption.com/2016/11/04/battle-life-death-mediterranean-sea-africans/#.WByZ8PR1ylo Matters Arising With: Kingsmond Ehimare

Unfortunate!

Africans problem is bad leadership.

It makes no difference. Dying in Nigeria or dying in the dip blue sea. May the generations of this present president be cursed forever. Amen.

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An average of 83 Nigerians crossed illegally from Nigeria to Europe, daily, via the Mediterranean in the first nine months of 2016, data by the European Union shows.

The daily figure was extrapolated from the 22,500 illegal Nigerian migrants that the EU said crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe between January and September this year.

This figure in the first 9 months of 2016 is against the 23,000 who crossed in the whole of 2015.

The Deputy Head of EU Delegation in Nigeria, Richard Young, made this disclosure on Thursday at a media workshop in Abuja.

Young expressed concern that the number of Nigerians taking dangerous adventure through Mediterranean to Europe within nine months in 2016 was higher than those who did same throughout 2015.

According to him, there has been huge increase in migrants crossing border without the right travel document to Europe from all over the world.

“In 2014, the number of people travelling irregularly into Europe clinched 280,000 people; in 2015 it rose to 1.8 million in 2015.

“From January to September 2016, the number is about 420,000; we are expecting that the number will rise to 800,000 before the end of the year.

“Within this number, people coming from Nigeria in 2012 was 800, in 2013 the number was 2,900, in 2014 the number was 8,700 in 2015 the number was 23,000.

“And between January and September 2016 the number is 22, 500,” he said.

While expressing concern that the people crossed Mediterranean on boats, he said, “3,700 drowned in Mediterranean Sea in 2016 alone, which indicated that one in 50 people drowned.”

He, however, said that the EU had put in place measures to address illegal migrants from Nigeria.

Young explained that these measures include the three ‘R’ policy of return, re-admission and reintegration for the illegal migrants.

According to him, there is an agreement that the illegal migrants be sent back home and be empowered with vocational skills that could enhance their living in Nigeria, but the training would be done in Nigeria.

“The second thing we are trying to do is tackling the smuggling routes.

” We are trying to put in place some level of collaboration with the Nigerian Immigration Service, with NAPTIP to tackle this issue,” he said.

He stressed that if the immigration issue was not properly addressed, it might have longer impact on the EU-Nigerian relationship.

He, therefore, urged Nigeria to grow its economy and address poverty so as to address the root cause of illegal migrants.

Buhari disaster happened to them on Nigerian soil and the Mediterranean Sea incident is just a by-product.