Lately, there has been a steep rise in the number of Nigerians deported from around the world. In what, in most cases, has become a rescue operation, Nigerians with no valid immigration papers or those deemed to have violated one law or the other are being randomly rounded up, bundled on to chartered flights, for an unplanned homeward journey, thus bringing their sojourn abroad to a precipitate end.
With the United States cracking down on immigrants and other Western countries placing emphasis on tighter border control, saving Nigerians from mass deportation amidst a record influx of immigrants from the troubled Middle East, there are indications that the heat on Nigerians will be unceasing. Available figures indicate that hundreds of Nigerians have so far been sent packing in the last four months from countries such as Libya, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Mali and South Africa.
Strikingly, leading the pack of countries evicting Nigerians is Libya, a country that has been plunged into civil unrest since the killing of its long-serving leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011. No fewer than 821 Nigerians have been evacuated from Libya in the past four months, with over 600 of them being ferried home in February alone. Not unexpected, the South African government, still smarting from criticism over its seemingly supportive role in the recent xenophobic attacks on other Africans, has deported 97 Nigerians, while similar actions in Mali and Britain have each yielded 41 Nigerians. No fewer than 43 Nigerians have had to make a hurried exit from Germany, Italy and Belgium.
Quite remarkably, most of those returning from Libya have been thanking God for rescuing them from the hellhole that the country has become. “Our people are dying,” many of them chorused as they set foot on their fatherland after a rescue effort mounted by the International Organisation for Migration and the Nigerian government. Many of them were actually rescued from prisons where they had been serving sentences for trumped-up charges. An unspecified number of Nigerians were said to have lost their lives due to the inhuman conditions in which they had been surviving in that fast-unravelling country.
What is most worrisome is why Nigerians are ever so eager to risk everything and embark on a treacherous journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya, at a time when the country has become too dangerous, even for its own citizens. Already termed a failed state, the country now has two rival governments, one operating from Tripoli in the West, while the other has its seat at Tobruk, in the East, with the presence of the Islamic State militants also deepening the chaos and the sense of uncertainty.
But the country has over the years established notoriety as the alternative and illegal gateway to Europe by hapless Africans, including Nigerians, desperate to escape from poverty and unemployment at home. Although many have managed to squeeze through to Europe — where they are recruited into prostitution, as victims of human trafficking — thousands of others have also perished in the process, with the massive waters of the Mediterranean Sea as their graveyard.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 5,000 people died last year trying to cross the sea into Europe, compared to the 3,771 that perished the previous year. An Aljazeera report quoting William Spindler, the UNHCR spokesperson, said, “The number of people who have lost their lives on the Mediterranean this year (2016) has now passed 5,000. That means that, on average, 14 people have died every single day this year….”
That is alarming and offers compelling reasons for actions to buck the ugly trend. Many, especially girls, have been lured into this misadventure by tales of the good life abroad and relatively higher-paying jobs. The United Nations, last year, said the trafficking of Nigerian women from Libya to Italy reached a crisis level, with 80 per cent of them channelled into prostitution across Europe. The IOM said 3,600 Nigerian women arrived Italy in the first half of last year, almost double the number of the previous year.
A deportee, Grace Peters, lamented that she was tricked into believing she was going to Germany, only to find herself in Libya. When she protested and asked to be returned home, she was allegedly maltreated. She said human traffickers would “do things that make you want to die.” Many of them had already been sexually exploited before their arrival at their destinations.
So far, the government, represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has taken the right steps by ensuring that those trapped abroad are brought home safely. But serious efforts should be made to enlighten Nigerians that there is no better place than home. Most of the stories of streets paved with gold in Europe are a mere illusion. “Some people were shot; others died in prison yards. Many of my friends that went to Libya with us have died,” is the testimony of another returnee. This should serve as a deterrent to those who always believe that their fortunes could only be bettered abroad.
On its part, the government also has a big role to play. If the leaders can provide good governance and revamp the economy to create jobs, many Nigerians would prefer to slug it out at home, rather than face an uncertain future or even death abroad.
