Desperate youths reap uncertainty, frustration over illegal migration

VICTOR AYENI writes on the desperation by many, especially young people, to leave the country through irregular means, given the insecurity and economic challenges bedeviling the country

Nicholas Udoh wore a resolute countenance as he sat back in his chair in his Ogba shop in Lagos after attending to one of his customers.

The 31-year-old who hails from Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was determined to leave the shores of the country by all means possible.

Udoh had been contacted by a family friend from his hometown, Emmanuel, who resides in Cyprus and had been the one encouraging him to relocate to the island country, situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

He told Saturday PUNCH that his family friend had told him to look for N3m to take care of the voyage as they might have to explore other means to leave the country. “The plan is to take the Libyan route, cross the sea and I will be in Cyprus with others,” he explained. “He said I would be able to start a new life and that if I could survive in Nigeria, surviving there wouldn’t be so difficult.

“The problem now is how to get N3m with my crayfish business. I’m an orphan and I don’t have anyone to help me. My uncle is also hustling to make ends meet. I’m frustrated in this country. I’m not educated, so I can’t even get a formal job. I’m still in my 30s.”

Udoh told our correspondent that Emmanuel advised him that the easiest way for him to become a legal migrant in Cyprus was to marry a citizen, even if she were far older in age. “I’m ready to embrace my new life and once I can become a legal migrant, I only have to endure and be ready to work hard,” he added.

Like Udoh, many Nigerian youths are desperate to escape their squalid realities and undertake dangerous journeys to enter European countries through irregular routes.

In July, Al Jazeera reported that four Nigerian migrants, after two weeks at sea, landed in the south-eastern port city of Victoria in Brazil. Throughout the duration of the death-defying journey, the men perched in a cramped space on the rudder of a large container ship, dangerously close to its propeller.

Hoping the ship was headed for Europe, they held themselves stable around the rudder by tying themselves with a fish net, as they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa.

“They came to ask me, do you know where you are and I said no. And they said, ‘This is Brazil.’ That was the first thing that they said and I said ‘Wow, so this is Brazil? I made it to Brazil.’ I am happy,” one of the migrants, Roman Friday, said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

The second man, Opemipo Yeye, said, “It was a terrible experience for me, being the first time, because I have never tried that before. But I already made up my mind to leave (Nigeria) so I just summoned the courage, but then it wasn’t easy.

“With the sea and the shaking of the ship, I was so scared. But I am here in Brazil. Before I came here, I was homeless. My wife and family were staying in another place so I just had to make up my mind.”

They both admitted they went on the perilous voyage because of economic hardship and state of the country. While the other two returned to Nigeria in August, the migrants have applied for asylum in Brazil. For them, the intercontinental voyages are over, while the pursuit of a better life continues.

Chasing a pot of gold

Within eight years, there has been an intensified fervour among the young population who are seeking an illusory pot of gold at the bottom of a rainbow they believe is nestled in foreign countries.

Sadly, many of them embark on the journey to Europe through the Libyan route – one that has proven to be among the riskiest for many migrants, and not everyone makes it alive to their destination. Hundreds of Nigerians have been repatriated from Libya, with many of them coming back distressed.

The collation done by our correspondent, based on figures released by the National Emergency Management Agency, indicated that no fewer than 10,116 stranded Nigerians were assisted to return home by the IOM from 10 different countries between 2017 and 2018. The majority of the returnees were repatriated from Libya.

In December 2018, however, NEMA disclosed that at least 11,833 Nigerians had been repatriated from Libya between March 2017 and November 2018, adding that 4,123 migrants were returned to the country from Libya between January and December 2018.

Following the conflict in Libya in 2019, no fewer than 2,078 Nigerian migrants were repatriated based on estimates derived from media reports and figures from the IOM.

In 2020, about 14,977 irregular migrants from Libya were assisted to return to the country based on separate estimates provided by NEMA and media reports.

In 2021, about 733 Nigerians stranded in Libya were repatriated to the country, while the IOM revealed that it had brought back 21,500 stranded Nigerians from Libya and Mali, among others, between 2017 and 2021.

According to the Federal Government, over 3,159 stranded Nigerian migrants were repatriated between January and November 2022, although the IOM indicated that it repatriated 19,452 Nigerians between April 2017 and February 2022.

Based on estimates given by NEMA and the IOM, no fewer than 1,492 returnees from Libya were assisted to return to the country between January and September 2023.

These highlight the rate at which many Nigerians were leaving the country and daring to take illegal routes to migrate to Europe.

Narrating his experience, a returnee, Kenny Obi, who now lives in Abuja, described how his journey to Europe started in 2016 after he tried to get a job but couldn’t.

He stated, “I tried so hard to get a job but I couldn’t. At a time, I became depressed even to the point of contemplating suicide. But With the help of my cousin, Razak, I set out on the journey in June of that year. All I had to do was to cross the border into Niger Republic, and from there, the person would pick me up.

“The first leg of the journey was from Abuja to Sokoto and Razak stayed in touch. I was able to cross the border into Niger Republic. From there, I boarded a luxurious bus, though it took us about three days to get to Agadez where I met a human trafficker who has a camp there. I saw more than 1,000 Nigerian youths there and others from West Africa.

“From Niger, we travelled for eight days to Libya. We were in a convoy of over 50 vehicles, each carrying about 30 persons. Before long, the heat of the desert and the thirst became unbearable and at a point, we resorted to drinking our own urine. That was the only alternative, otherwise, one would die.”

Obi further disclosed that they were apprehended by soldiers at a checkpoint along the Libyan border where their phones and money were seized. “They then forced us to turn in another direction and they started raping our girls right there in our presence, anyone who tried to look at them was beaten,” Obi added.

After two years and three failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean, the migrants were sold to several gangs and their hopes of getting to Europe soon gave way to despair. Obi was finally rescued and repatriated to Nigeria.

For Nigerian migrants who succeed in entering foreign countries through the Mediterranean Sea or through the Libyan route, they are interchangeably described as “irregular,” “undocumented” and “unauthorised.”

Irregular migration, according to the International Organisation for Migration, is defined as “movement that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving country.”

The IOM further notes that a migrant in an irregular situation may enter the country irregularly, for instance with false documents or without crossing an official border crossing point; or may reside in the country irregularly, for instance, in violation of the terms of an entry visa/residence permit.

The third category is migrants who are employed in the country irregularly. For instance, they may have the right to reside but not to take up paid employment in the country.