BusinessDay 08 Apr 2018

18 BDSUNDAY
Investigation
C002D5556
Sunday 08 April 2018
Libya returnees in Edo...
Continued from page 17
for 16 hours, I was praying for any
rescue, even if it was by a fisherman.
Then, the Libyan government came
and rescued us and took us back to
deportation camp.
“In the morning, you might not
see food to eat in the prison. They
served us small humza bread and
in the night, they gave us undone
Marconi without pepper or salt.
When you turn it, you’ll see water
inside like you are swimming.
“Of all the connection men in
Libya, Nigerians are very wicked
people. They will connive with the
Arabians to sell you and tell you to
call your people so they will send
fund, else they won’t stop beating
you,” George narrated.
He said that many Nigerians in
Libya would like to return home but
cannot because they are closer to
Italy and when they remember the
hardship they suffered in the desert,
they would change their minds.
“If you are unlucky, they will
arrest you in the desert because
you don’t have papers. You’ll see
some many bones of dead people
because a lot of people die in the
desert. If someone gives me N20
million to pass through that place
again, I won’t go. Never!” he said.
Desire to return to Libya
Although the name Libya could
be said to be synonymous with
slavery, many returnees from Libya
say they want to go back.
According to them, Libya is better
than Nigeria because of availability
of jobs and strong currency value
when compared to the Nigerian
currency.
Some said that the failure of the
government to live up to its promise
to make the lives of the returnees
better is another motivating factor.
“They brought us down to Benin
in the pretence that the governor
has a special package for us only
to chase us out of the hotel. Which
help do they now have for us?” Babatunde,
a trader who left his wife
and children under the care of his
mother-in-law before setting out
for Libya, asked.
“We are not even sure they will
pay us the N20,000 because those
that returned long before us haven’t
received theirs. This is what will
make most of us to go back,” he said.
Babatunde was deported on
March 22, 2018 and is making plans
to go back to Libya.
“I used to deal in plantains. I
bought in bulk from the villages and
sold in the cities. I want to go back
to the business. I can get goods on
credit because I didn’t owe anybody.
“Within two months, I will
raise enough money to return to
Libya and from there, I will go to
where I want to go. I cannot stay in
this country because if I do, I won’t
live long,” he said.
Favour, one of the returnees who
was a painter before he left Nigeria
for Libya four years ago, is also nursing
plans of going back to Libya.
“If I decide to go back tomorrow,
even the government cannot stop
me. Instead of turning to armed
robbery, it’s better for me to go back
to Libya because this country is not
friendly,” he said.
“I’m not a baby on that Libyan
route. Libya is better than this country.
I only suffered after I was arrested.
In Libya, I earned between 400-
500 dinars (N40,000-N50,000)
daily. It won’t take me more than a
month to ‘gather’ money and travel
again,” he said.
Favour, an only child, said he was
the secretary at the ‘pushing’ camp
in Libya, where people board boats
to cross over to Italy. His boss, a
Ghanaian, did not want to ‘push’ him
to Libya since he (Favour) helped
him push a lot of people to him.
When his boss decided to ‘push’
to Italy, Favour said, they never
knew the road had blocked. So,
he was caught on the sea and sent
to the deportation camp and later
deported to Nigeria.
“Many people in that country are
supposed to come out but they are
not ready to return to Nigeria. Many
are still in the prison and they are
telling the government that they are
going nowhere,” said Collins, one of
the returnees.
“They say they’d rather remain in
the prison because they know what
they passed through in their Nigeria.
They don’t want to come back and
Elizabeth
face the same thing. You are in a
foreign country and you are going
through stress, in your country you
still face the same thing. So, what’s
the use of coming back? It’s better
to face it in Libya; anyhow it wants
to be, let it be,” he said.
Another returnee who gave his
name as Paul regretted returning to
Nigeria, saying he would return to
Libya once he lays his hands on cash.
“I was on the Mediterranean
Sea, less than an hour to Italy, when I
was captured by the Libyan government
and jailed in an underground
prison,” said Paul, 24, who sold his
tailoring machine shortly after apprenticeship
to travel to Libya in
April 2016.
“I suffered in that prison but I
knew I would have regained my
freedom someday and continued
my journey to Europe if I wasn’t so
unfortunate to be deported to Nigeria.
“I will go back to Libya because I
want to ‘confirm’ the Europe country
this time if I see someone that
will sponsor me. Because I have got
some kind of experience, if I go back,
it won’t be tough for me. It’s only the
newcomers that will find it difficult
and this time, my twin brother said
he will join,” he said.
Growing crime rate
The unintended consequence of
driving the returnees into oblivion
without counselling and training
is that the crime rate in Edo State
is likely to increase. Findings show
that this may already be happening
as some returnees have taken to
crime. Steve, 27, two-time Libya
deportee who was caught in robbery
said he did so out of frustration.
“I travelled to Libya in 2015 but
I did not have money to cross over
to Europe. So, while working to save
up the money, I was imprisoned and
later deported in December 2017,”
said Steve, who was a truck driver
before his departure to Libya.
“I travelled again to Libya in
January 2018 because I had nothing
doing but I ended up in the deportation
camp and was brought back
to Nigeria on March 22. When we
were driven out of the motel, I had
no place to stay. I went to rob so I
could rent a room but I was caught.
My friends bailed me out and now I
owe them N50,000,” he said.
Another returnee who retailed
female clothing in New Benin before
his trip to Libya said most of the returnees
took to crime as a way of survival.
“When I was still at the motel, a
man dropped off a lady at the motel
but on getting to Sapele road, his car
was snatched. It’s one of us that did
that due to hunger,” said the returnee
who refused to say his name.
“When they received us in Lagos,
they told us that our governor and
the Oba of Benin wanted to see us
and deliver a special package to us,
but we did not see anyone and they
said we should go. Where did they
expect us to go to?’’ he asked.
A medical doctor at the Central
Hospital, Benin, confirmed that robbery
has been on the increase since
the returnees started coming home.
“It was not like this before,” he said.
Government reacts
Cruose Osagie, chief press secretary
to the Edo State governor,
said the government cannot bear
the entire burden of the returnees
on its shoulders.
“If I tell you that our plans are
to take over the lives of the people
(returnees) and begin to run it for
them just because they travelled to
Libya, I would be lying because they
are still responsible for their lives,”
Osagie said.
“Just because they travelled to
Libya does not mean that they are
government’s property. Be that as it
may, the government is committed
and is giving out the little support it
can to resettle the returnees,” he
said. Solomon Okoduwa, senior
special assistant to Edo State governor
on human trafficking and illegal
migration, told me on the telephone
that the state has received a total
of 3,155 returnees since October
2017 and 530 of them had undergone
vocational training while 550
had been paid.
“We have trained 530 returnees
in bead making, cosmetology, soap
making and fashion designing between
December 2017 and March
2018. When we have a sizeable
number of them who are interested
in a particular training, we contact
the resource persons to train them,”
he said. “We are processing the
funds of those who are yet to receive
their stipend. There are no
funds now but that does not mean
that we won’t pay them when the
funds are available,” he said.
However, an inside source at the
state task force against human trafficking,
told me that only one batch
out of the 26 batches of returnees
had been paid as at Thursday March
29, 2018. “We paid only one batch
because we don’t have enough
funds to pay all of them. What we do
now is to lodge them for two days
and after that, they can find their
way,” the source said.
Recently, it was reported that
the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II,
placed some returnees from Libya
on salary for three months.
When asked the number of
returnees, the criteria for the selection
and when payment would
commence, Okoduwa said, “Some
of the returnees we trained in skill
acquisition requested for funds
but when we told them there were
no funds for them at that moment,
they became agitated and went to
Oba’s palace. So, the Oba placed 76
of them on salary.
“The Oba’s word is a decree;
it does not take time because the
Oba is not like the government.
The Oba has the capacity to pay
the returnees that same day. They
will receive the payment as soon as
their information is finalised.”
While pleading for the returnees
to be patient with the government,
Okoduwa also solicited for assistance.
“We will not dispute the fact that
some of the returnees have taken to
crime but we are not encouraging
crime. Whoever is caught would
face the full wrath of law,” he said.
“We call on well-meaning people
in the state, religious bodies and the
business community to support the
cause of the Edo State government
because the job is enormous and
we have other things to take care
of,” he said.