• Says, ‘I saw hell’

From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin

Libya returnee and father of five, Mr. Sylvester Agho, has described his five months experience in the country as “hell.”

Agho has even promised to join in the fight against illegal migration.

He said these when he spoke with newsmen in Benin, capital of Edo State, yesterday.

Agho, who said he was glad to be back to Nigeria, said the moment one leaves his country, he losses his freedom. He said there is no other country that could be likened to Nigeria.

“On my coming back to Edo state, I am happy because there is no place like home.

“When you are in Nigeria, you have the freedom to move about, without molestation but, the moment you step out of the shores of Nigeria, you have lost your freedom. 

“There is great discrimination over there but, in Nigeria, there is nothing like that.

“You can work freely but, over there, you cannot do that,” he recounted.

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Agho, who is among the 531 Edo indigenes deported from Libya, said he would advise those still thinking of leaving the country to have a rethink and look for something meaningful to do, to earn a better livelihood rather than endangering their lives in a foreign land.

“I left this country on June 15, this year, and am back, today, which means that I spent five months and some weeks there but throughout that period, I was in hell. 

“There was nothing good over there; there is nothing on earth that will make me travel by land to Europe but, for those going back, I advise them not to go back but to stay in Nigeria and find something else to do,” he said.

Another returnee, Mr. Destiny Gabriel, said he was overwhelmed with joy to have been deported.

“When I got to Nigeria, last night, I was happy. I had joy, freedom because we are coming from a place where there was no freedom. 

“They do not have respect for human beings. That was my experience in Libya.” 

Destiny appealed to federal and state governments to provide a means of livelihood for the returnees, to prevent them from taking to crime.

“The federal and state governments should help us. They should do something that will encourage us to know that our governments are really there for us.

“I appreciate the governor who said we should stay in this hotel for three days and after three days, what then happen to us? Like some of us, we do not even have a place to stay after that three days, what then happen to us. Where do we go from here? That is the question I am asking the governor?” the returnee asked.