A 22-year-old Nigerian migrant who was rescued from an EU-bound rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea last year has described his ordeal in Libya.
The Nigerian man identified as ‘Otins’ revealed that he fled the country because of the Niger Delta militants but got himself into a worse off situation upon reaching Libya.
Otins who revealed he had to pass through Libya in the hopes of a better life revealed that he was kidnapped, beat and stabbed in Libya by a militia.
Speaking to MOAS, Otins said: “I had to leave Nigeria because of the Niger Delta Crisis. This militia group came into our village and forced me and others to join them. One dark night I managed to escape the camp and run away. It took me five weeks but I finally managed to make it to Libya.
“It wasn’t the safe place I was expecting. I got kidnapped by a militia, they beat me and stabbed me with a knife several times. Black people are not humans in their eyes. I escaped again and managed to get in touch with a smuggler who put me on a rubber boat bound for Europe.
“The crossing was intense. The sun was so hot at sea that I passed out. You want to know my biggest dream? I have no dream anymore, because my only dream came true. I survived. I didn’t die in Nigeria, I didn’t die in Libya, I didn’t die in the sea. Now to find a new dream.”
