11 Nigerian stowaways rescued by Liberian fishermen return home

Two Die After Being Dumped In Atlantic Ocean
No fewer than 11 Nigerians and one Cameroonian were rescued from the Atlantic Ocean by Liberian fishermen, following their failed attempt to get to Europe illegally.

The Guardian learnt that the survivors, who were repatriated to Lagos, at the weekend, stowed away on OpheliaPanama, ”a cargo vessel that was returning to Europe, from Lagos.

Of the 13 Nigerians, two died due to injuries allegedly sustained when they were tortured by the ship’s crewmembers, and subsequently jump into the sea.

The 11 Nigerians and one Cameroonian arrived aboard an ASKY Airline Flight No KP062, with the help of the Liberian immigration officers.

The returnees whose age range from 24 to 40 are Seyi Popoola, PreciousUwalogho, Ayetimiyi Kelvin, Stephen Junior, Emmanuel Benjamin, Balogun Gbenga, Temiotan Adewale, Igiebor Stephen, Hamza John, Alfred Ese, and Ogechi Chika.

They all admitted to sneaking into the basement of the ship at Tin Can Island, Apapa, Lagos at about midnight on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, after transporting themselves on smaller boats to the ship.

They entered with their personal belongings and some food items, with the hope of making it to any country in Europe. The ship set out for Europe without the crew’s knowledge of the stowaways.

However, on the fifth day, having exhausted their food and faced with starvation, they all decided to present themselves to the ship’s crew to get food so as not to die of starvation.

Upon their appearance before the crewmembers, they were all subjected to severe physical and mental torture. Thereafter, the crew allegedly threw them into the waters in a threesome.

Two Nigerians, namely: Frank and Osas, died in the process. Others sustained a lot of injuries and battled for their lives until they were rescued by Liberian fishermen, who tended to their injuries and alerted the Liberian immigration authorities.

One of the returnees said: “We met each other on the ship. We are 14 with one Cameroonian. We moved from Nigerdock entering the vessel through the rudder side. When the ship was moving after four days, our food finished and so we wanted help from the crew. Unfortunately, the crew started spraying us with chemicals, which burnt our skins while commanding us to jump into the high sea.”

Comptroller of Immigration Service, Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) Command, CIS Adeola Adesokan, who received the stowaways, handed them over for documentation and profiling, and made provisions for their feeding.

Adesokan said: “We discovered that they are bona fide Nigerians making efforts to run away from the shores of the country. Their story is very harrowing, very pitiable. There was hot water flushing before they were thrown into the high sea and left to their destinies,” she said.