Twenty-four West African migrants were
rescued and dozens more feared dead after
traffickers deserted them in Niger’s northern
desert without food or water, a senior local
official said Monday.
The migrants rescued on Sunday were part of a
group of “70 people who had left in three
vehicles from Agadez for Libya,” Fatoumi
Boudou, the prefect of the northern region of
Bilma.
Agadez is a remote town in Niger on the edge
of the Sahara that has become the smuggling
capital of Africa.
The traffickers “abandoned them in the middle
of the desert without food or water,” he said,
adding that those rescued had spoken of
several dead bodies without specifying a
number.
But the Agadez-based Air Info website, citing a
security source, said scores of bodies had been
buried on Sunday by troops and locals.
A local radio station had said 52 dead bodies
had been discovered by authorities on Sunday.
The 750-kilometre (465-mile) trip from Agadez
to the Libyan border takes between two and
three days with only very short petrol and
toilet stops on the way.
Boudou said searches across a 65-kilometre
radius had yielded one dead body “with the
identity card of a Nigerian student.”
In early June, at least 44 Libya-bound migrants,
including women and babies, died of thirst in
the Sahara desert after their vehicle broke
down in scorching conditions.
In May 2015, the government in Niamey
adopted a law banning the illegal trafficking of
migrants with those found guilty facing a
prison sentence of between one and 30 years,
and fines of up to 30 million CFA francs (45,000
euros/$51,000).
Libya has long struggled to control its southern
borders with Sudan, Chad and Niger, even
before the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator
Moamer Kadhafi.
In the chaos that followed, traffickers stepped
up their business, with tens of thousands of
people each year making the perilous crossing
to Italy just some 300 kilometres away.
Germany and Italy last month called for an EU
mission to be installed on the border between
Libya and Niger to reduce the migrant flow.

Source:- http://legendbaze.ga/2017/06/27/24-migrants-rescued-in-niger-dozens-more-feared-dead/

Imagine a Nigerian student, dead in the desert because he wants to sneak into Europe. With his education, with his literacy, he could not try to come up with a vision or a business that will eventually get him the cash to travel legitimately. The government of Nigeria that makes Nigeria so uncomfortable that thousands are willing to face death just to leave Nigeria. Nigeria can be better than Europe..if we unite for progress