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My Travail In Libya As I Sold My 4 Bedroom Flat For 450,000 by iluvdonjazzy: 7:52am On Feb 04, 2017 |
Last week, KUNLE FALAYI wrote on
the case of a Nigerian who went
missing in Libya and his family living
in limbo without any clue as to what
could have happened to him. In this
report , another Nigerian migrant
living in fear of being killed in the
North African country shares his story
Peter Oamen was 24 years old in 2015
when he decided to travel to Europe
like many of his friends who had
already gone before him.
But first , he had to get to Libya and to
get there , conquering the largest desert
in the world – the Sahara – in a three -
day 910 km journey from Agadez ,
Niger to the North African country
was a risk he was willing to take.
Oamen embarked on the journey and
unlike the unfortunate migrants ,
whose dried up corpses littered the
landscape of the desert he and his
cohorts passed through, he arrived
Libya successfully in July 2015 .
He said , “ I was a trader in Nigeria at
the time and I was doing very fine. I
thought I could make much money
because my friends kept telling me life
in Europe was far better .
“ Through the businesses I did in
Nigeria, I had been able to build a
four - bedroomed house in Irrua , Esan
Central Local Government Area of Edo
State . But when I was urgently looking
for money to travel abroad, I sold off
the house for N450 , 000 because I
needed N 500 ,000 to get to Libya . ”
Finally in Libya, Oamen was unable to
raise enough money to fund the last
leg of his journey – from Libya across
the Mediterranean Sea to Europe and
he had to work to make a living .
By the time he had enough money to
finance his crossing , he said he
became discouraged as news of
drowning and deportation of migrants
circulated all over the world.
He decided to choose the option of
staying in Tripoli to make a living in a
country where violence by militiamen
and the police has become an
everyday affair .
When pictures and videos of Nigerians
and other black migrants being
brutalised and summarily executed in
Libya surfaced some days ago, the
critical situation of men, women and
even children flocking out of Nigeria
in search of better life became a
source of concern.
The pictures prompted the Nigerian
government to immediately issue a
warning to Nigerians to steer clear of
the country .
For the first time , a Nigerian who is
currently trapped behind what has
now become the “ frontline of terror
against black immigrants ” shared his
story , giving an inside look at the
deadly situation black migrants face in
the transit country .
According to Oamen, in the past ,
Libyan militiamen and police rounded
up black migrants and put them in
detention facilities where some of
them died of diseases or random
killing. But now , he said they seemed
to have fashioned out a new way of
dealing with migrants who venture
into the country – extermination .
Oamen, who said he has been living in
an uncompleted building in Tripoli,
the country ’s capital for more than
two weeks , fears for his life every day.
He dares not walk on the street in the
day time , while he only sneaks out
once in a while to work in a tile
making factory , whose administrators
don ’t really care about the colour of
his skin so far as he gets the job done.
Over the past months , violence against
black migrants had increased in
Libya.
Oamen explained that he is paid 100
Libyan Dinar (about $ 70 or N 21 , 000 )
per day.
But as soon as he steps out of the
factory with his wage in his pocket , he
is robbed at gunpoint or knifepoint by
Libyans .
“ The Libyans already know when we
get paid. As soon as we finish work
and step out, they rob us. Everywhere
there are thieves . The robberies
happen every day,” he said .
Oamen and his friends know better
than to resist the Libyan men who rob
them of their wages .
According to him , going to and from
work, it has become common to see the
corpse of a stabbed or shot black
migrant on street corners.
“ We just wake up in the morning and
see the corpse of a black man or
woman in a street corner . Many
people from Edo State that I knew
were killed in street corners around
Christmas and New Year .
“ If the Libyan men find you in a
corner and they ask for your money , if
you have nothing to give them , you are
either shot or stabbed to death . ”
But things worsened about two weeks
ago.
The Edo - State born trader explained
that that day, he had just got back from
work and was relaxing in the tiny
house he shared with 12 other black
migrants from Nigeria , Senegal and
Gambia , when another migrant who
had gone out to buy something
suddenly came rushing back in .
“ He said there were policemen
everywhere. We all knew what that
meant . The whole house turned upside
down . Everybody started rushing to
dress up , because we all knew what
police presence meant . We all had to
flee because being caught may be
death .
“ Suddenly , we started hearing
gunshots as they entered all the houses
where Nigerians and other blacks
were living . We scaled the fence of our
compound and scattered in different
directions as they shot at us. There
was nowhere to run. Arabs pushed us
out of their houses when we tried to
seek refuge with them .
“ Some of us ran into an uncompleted
building and lay on the floor till the
night. I have been living in the
uncompleted building for more than
two weeks now . Others ran into other
buildings and were caught. We still
don ’t know what happened to those
caught till today . ”
Oamen said after the dust settled and
scores of black migrants had been
taken away , he and his cohorts
ventured into their previous living
areas under the cover of night . But the
sight they met left them shocked . He
said all the buildings black migrants
were living in had been burnt to the
ground along with the belongings they
left behind in a hurry .
“ But that was not the worst . Some
were shot while trying to run away .
Dead bodies littered the street – men
and women alike . Now, everybody is
afraid of going out either in the night
or day. They treat us like rats . Our
people are killed and burnt by
Libyans . Everywhere is hot now ,” he
said .
At the moment , Oamen said all he is
thinking about is coming back to
Nigeria.
Last week, our correspondent had
notified the International
Organisation for Migration about
Peter’ s case along with that of his 18 -
year- old brother, Joshua, who had
joined him in Libya last year .
Both of them have been living under
the shadow of violence and death that
migrants in Libya have been subjected
to .
Joshua, who had been working as a
welder before the clampdown on
migrants , left Nigeria without their
mother ’s knowledge .
Oamen also said he did not know that
his brother was going to follow in his
footsteps and come to Libya.
Now both of them are desperate to
come back to their homeland .
Last week, Saturday PUNCH reported
how their mother , Mrs . Pauline
pleaded for help to enable her sons to
come back home .
But what happens to Peter who sold
everything he has before he left
Nigeria two years ago?
He told our correspondent that he
really would not mind starting his life
all over again so far as he could get
back to the country in one piece .
“ All I need to do is to rent a place and
start a tile and ceramic business since
I already got the skills here ,” he said .
The Head of IOM in Nigeria , Mr.
Nahashon Thuo , has said the brothers
would be considered for repatriation
in the next batch of returnees to be
flown back from Libya to Nigeria |
Re: My Travail In Libya As I Sold My 4 Bedroom Flat For 450,000 by Mynd44: 7:55am On Feb 04, 2017 |
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