Europe By Desert: Tears Of African/nigerian Migrants! - Nairaland / General - Nairaland
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Europe By Desert: Tears Of African/nigerian Migrants! (1348 Views)
Cow Shedding Tears After Seeing Knifes They Would Use To Kill Him (photos) / Yahoo Boy Runs Mad In Lagos; Jumps Out Of His Range Rover And Tears Clothes -Pic / Are They Any Art Lovers In The House? Do You Appreciate African?nigerian Art (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
| Europe By Desert: Tears Of African/nigerian Migrants! by Emperoh(m): 11:50am On Feb 09, 2010 |
People, i saw this on The Sun and decided to share. . . . Be wary though, its very long But captivating, engaging and good journalism by the author. . . i salute the Author's Courage and Determination Though he didn't finish the journey due to ill health. . . .all the same, satisfy your intellectual craving. . . . . For 37 days, Investigative Reporter, EMMANUEL MAYAH, travelled a total of 4,318 kilometres across seven countries and the Sahara desert in the company of illegal African migrants on their way to Europe. From Nigeria to Benin Republic, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and finally Libya, he survived to tell the story of human traffickers, sex slavery in transit camps, starvation, desert bandits, arduous toil in a salt mine, cruel thirst and deaths in the hot desert. It is a long-distance suicide, yet most travelers realize it only when it is too late. Just as they say in eastern Nigeria, the road to hell is hardly narrow. It was difficult to say how many times a day this proverb rang in the head of the old woman as she emerged with uncertain steps out of her house. For a minute she hesitated; not just to measure the visitor but to squint at the midday sun as though imploring it not to be too harsh on her. Looking grief-stricken, though with a gait that betrayed genteel elegance, she muttered a few apologies to no one in particular and said something about malaria. But everyone knew the problem was much more. Indeed, life had never been the same since news reached Madam Emeagwu that her daughter was on death row in Libya. Since July 2009, Nigerians were still reeling from the aftershock of the news that twenty Nigerians, including one Juliet Okoro, were awaiting the hangman in Libyan prisons. Three women, including Glory Paul-Amanze and Juliet Okoro were among the twenty Nigerians sentenced to death in the North Africa country for offences ranging from murder, drug, armed robbery and immigration offences. Every year, thousands of sub-Saharan migrants, mostly Nigerians, set out on an often perilous journey across the desert to Libya from where they hope to slip into Europe for greener pasture. But if Nigerians were not unfamiliar with reports of migrants drowning in makeshift boats in the Mediterranean or of ugly footages of human cargoes deposited at airports in yet another mass deportation, tales of execution in transit countries were a totally new dimension to the horrifying migrant story. Juliet Okoro was reported to have been convicted of murder. “Tell me, who did my daughter kill? What is the name of the man?” Madam Emeagwu asked, again to no one in particular. She took a seat under a guava tree outside her house. Someone had gone in to announce the presence of the visitor. At first the woman had relayed her disposition not to see any guest. Told that the visitor had come all the way from Lagos to the village, Isieke in Anambra State, she had no doubt what had brought him. Almost immediately, she wanted to know if the visitor was a government official and if there was anything he could do to help her daughter. It was heartbreaking having no words to comfort her. For years she had believed her daughter was in Europe, possibly in America. She had never heard of a country called Libya. Her teenage nephew, who by now had abandoned the cassava chips he was preparing for lunch, had explained she had been in bed sick ever since the family received the bad news. The last time anyone heard from Juliet was in 2000. Choosing his words carefully, this reporter announced that he was a journalist travelling to the country where Juliet was being held in prison. The journalist also told Madam Emegwu that the Libyan government had suspended the executions of more Nigerians on death row pending the final determination of a case against Libya by a Non-Governmental Organisation, Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), before the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in Banjul, The Gambia. more . . . . . http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/jan/05/national-05-01-2010-31.htm |
(1) (Reply)
Top Slumber Inducing Posters Of 2012 / Top 5 Reasons Why People Fail In Life / Plane Crash In Lagos?
(Go Up)
| Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 11 |