As the International Organization for Migration continues to assist in the repatriation of stranded Nigerians in Libya, one returnee has said he still has plans to travel to Europe but, this time, legally.
Evans Williams, in a BBC report, claimed he sold everything he had to get smuggled to Europe through Libya. He estimated he spent $1000 (about N360,000.00) on the travel. The sum was made from selling his bed, fridge, TV, spare clothes and mobile phone. He also borrowed money to have enough to pay a smuggling gang and made the perilous journey through the Sahara Desert, Libya and across the Meditteranean.
Williams was assured of a certain greener pasture waiting for him in Europe. He never knew he would spend six miserable months in Libya, where the gang forced him to work for free, before he would finally board a rickety boat to cross the Mediterranean.
The rickety boat never made it to Europe. It was stopped by Libyan coastguard, who threw Williams and 140 other passengers into a detention centre.
He is now back home in Benin, Edo State, among hundreds of migrants staying in a government-requisitioned hotel.
According to the BBC, Williams is among the thousands that have been flown back by the IOM, a UN body that helps illegal migrants who want to return home.
“I still don’t want to stay in Nigeria,” BBC quoted Williams as saying.
“Although next time, I’ll try to go to Europe by legal means.”
