28 days across the desert…from Libya
Thursday, 03 November 2011 00:00
From Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri News - Metro
GUARDIAN
Six faint, four women miscarry pregnancy as another batch of 79 Nigerians return from Libya
IT HAD been a long, arduous journey through the desert with almost nothing but sand and sky everywhere they turned.
Enduring inclement weather and with no other alternative than to travel in considerable discomfort, another batch of Nigerians returning from Libya, on Saturday, finally set foot on their fatherland.
In a convoy of buses and under the supervision of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the 79 Nigerians, among them two little children, arrived the Gambouru/Ngala Borno State border with Chad Republic into the waiting arms of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials.
They had spent 28 days in the desert before reaching Ndjamena; capital of Chad during which six people fainted and four of the women had miscarriages.
From Maiduguri, the International Organisation for Migration and National Emergency Management Agency are returning them to their home states of Edo and Oyo.
According to the Zonal Coordinator, Aliyu Sambo, the IOM gave NEMA a short notice on Saturday that 79 Nigerians had reached the border post of Gambouru/Ngala, and that the returnees should be received immediately and ascertained to be in good health before being transported to various parts of the country.
He said following the screening of the returnees at the border post with Chad by the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), the NEMA had provided six buses to transport the returnees to Edo and Oyo States, from where each and everyone of them would go to their respective communities to be received by their family members.
Speaking on the journey through the desert, a security personnel of IOM, Ronald Alladoumase told The Guardian that none of the 79 Nigerians fell ill, adding that the responsibilities of IOM was to ensure the safety of returning citizens of all African countries to their final destinations.
He said returnees that fell sick were treated at the IOM clinic in Ndjamena, before they were transported to their respective countries in West, East or South Africa.
Narrating their ordeals in the desert, Isha Suleiman, 28, and a wife to a Nigerian-born professor of a university in Libya said that in order to survive in the desert, they had to cook severally and drink a lot of water during the 28-day journey from Libya to Chad.
She said because of the harsh desert conditions and the trauma they had undergone in Libya during the eight-month war, six people fainted, while four of the women had miscarriages on the desert tracks to Chad.
“My little Bilkisu, 4, miraculously survived the harsh desert conditions before reaching the border post at Gambouru/Ngala in Borno State.
“I thank God for sparing all our lives and NEMA, which has eased our transportation to our various communities in Edo and Oyo states.”
Meanwhile, the National Secretary of Nigeria Community in Libya and President of United Returnees Foundation, Solomon Okoduwa had some weeks ago, led over 2000 Edo State indigenes who returned from Libya to the Edo State Government House to solicit the support of the state government.
Giving an account of the horrors Nigerians suffered during the crisis, he confirmed that thousands of Nigerians were massacred, even as he pleaded with the Federal Government to also make effort to bring home some Nigerians stranded in the southern part of Niger Republic so they do not starve to death.
He said Nigerians were massacred because Gaddafi deployed black soldiers to the Southern part of Libya.
“Most of them were foreigners and when they got to Benghazi, they started killing people.
“Because of that, Benghazi people declared war on blacks, accusing them of working for Gaddafi.
“That was how they started killing any black man they saw in Libya. Most of our people were butchered like animals. That was how the massacre started.
“Unfortunately, no Nigerian was among those who killed people on the orders of Gaddafi in Benghazi.
“We only had some Chadian soldiers, Niger and Burkina Faso soldiers. This particular squad was specially trained to defend Gaddafi and that was the first people he used to attack the city of Benghazi. That was how Nigerians started having problem in Libya.
“The Nigerians who were in prison were innocent. Some of our people because of lack of jobs became informants to the Libyan police and they were paid for it. But the truth is that this crisis helped Nigerians a lot because all the prisons were opened and that was how they escaped. There are some Nigerians in Libya who want fast money and as a result, would not want to get themselves involved in legitimate businesses and these are the people that were in prison. We also had many of them who were innocent but were roped- in one way or the other.
Those of them who escaped from the prison when it was opened during this crisis came to the Embassy and said they wanted to come back to Nigeria that very night. So we started looking for how to get them tickets to come back and we succeeded before the Airport was shut down,” he stated.
Thursday, 03 November 2011 00:00
From Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri News - Metro
GUARDIAN
Six faint, four women miscarry pregnancy as another batch of 79 Nigerians return from Libya
IT HAD been a long, arduous journey through the desert with almost nothing but sand and sky everywhere they turned.
Enduring inclement weather and with no other alternative than to travel in considerable discomfort, another batch of Nigerians returning from Libya, on Saturday, finally set foot on their fatherland.
In a convoy of buses and under the supervision of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the 79 Nigerians, among them two little children, arrived the Gambouru/Ngala Borno State border with Chad Republic into the waiting arms of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials.
They had spent 28 days in the desert before reaching Ndjamena; capital of Chad during which six people fainted and four of the women had miscarriages.
From Maiduguri, the International Organisation for Migration and National Emergency Management Agency are returning them to their home states of Edo and Oyo.
According to the Zonal Coordinator, Aliyu Sambo, the IOM gave NEMA a short notice on Saturday that 79 Nigerians had reached the border post of Gambouru/Ngala, and that the returnees should be received immediately and ascertained to be in good health before being transported to various parts of the country.
He said following the screening of the returnees at the border post with Chad by the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), the NEMA had provided six buses to transport the returnees to Edo and Oyo States, from where each and everyone of them would go to their respective communities to be received by their family members.
Speaking on the journey through the desert, a security personnel of IOM, Ronald Alladoumase told The Guardian that none of the 79 Nigerians fell ill, adding that the responsibilities of IOM was to ensure the safety of returning citizens of all African countries to their final destinations.
He said returnees that fell sick were treated at the IOM clinic in Ndjamena, before they were transported to their respective countries in West, East or South Africa.
Narrating their ordeals in the desert, Isha Suleiman, 28, and a wife to a Nigerian-born professor of a university in Libya said that in order to survive in the desert, they had to cook severally and drink a lot of water during the 28-day journey from Libya to Chad.
She said because of the harsh desert conditions and the trauma they had undergone in Libya during the eight-month war, six people fainted, while four of the women had miscarriages on the desert tracks to Chad.
“My little Bilkisu, 4, miraculously survived the harsh desert conditions before reaching the border post at Gambouru/Ngala in Borno State.
“I thank God for sparing all our lives and NEMA, which has eased our transportation to our various communities in Edo and Oyo states.”
Meanwhile, the National Secretary of Nigeria Community in Libya and President of United Returnees Foundation, Solomon Okoduwa had some weeks ago, led over 2000 Edo State indigenes who returned from Libya to the Edo State Government House to solicit the support of the state government.
Giving an account of the horrors Nigerians suffered during the crisis, he confirmed that thousands of Nigerians were massacred, even as he pleaded with the Federal Government to also make effort to bring home some Nigerians stranded in the southern part of Niger Republic so they do not starve to death.
He said Nigerians were massacred because Gaddafi deployed black soldiers to the Southern part of Libya.
“Most of them were foreigners and when they got to Benghazi, they started killing people.
“Because of that, Benghazi people declared war on blacks, accusing them of working for Gaddafi.
“That was how they started killing any black man they saw in Libya. Most of our people were butchered like animals. That was how the massacre started.
“Unfortunately, no Nigerian was among those who killed people on the orders of Gaddafi in Benghazi.
“We only had some Chadian soldiers, Niger and Burkina Faso soldiers. This particular squad was specially trained to defend Gaddafi and that was the first people he used to attack the city of Benghazi. That was how Nigerians started having problem in Libya.
“The Nigerians who were in prison were innocent. Some of our people because of lack of jobs became informants to the Libyan police and they were paid for it. But the truth is that this crisis helped Nigerians a lot because all the prisons were opened and that was how they escaped. There are some Nigerians in Libya who want fast money and as a result, would not want to get themselves involved in legitimate businesses and these are the people that were in prison. We also had many of them who were innocent but were roped- in one way or the other.
Those of them who escaped from the prison when it was opened during this crisis came to the Embassy and said they wanted to come back to Nigeria that very night. So we started looking for how to get them tickets to come back and we succeeded before the Airport was shut down,” he stated.
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