Eleven among 13 Nigerians and a Cameroonian youths who embarked on a voyage as stowaways have been rescued and returned to their countries by the Liberia Immigration Service.
The eleven surviving stowaways, aged between 24 and 40 years, arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos at about 15:00hrs (4:00pm local time) on board Asky airline flight KP062 on Thursday October 6, 2022; under the watch of a nine man escort team from Liberia Immigration Service, led by Capt Mark J. Weaye.
The survivors are: Seyi Popoola, Precious Uwalogho, Ayetimiyi Kelvin, Stephen Junior, Emmanuel Benjamin, Balogun Gbenga, Temiotan Adewale, Igiebor Stephen, Hamza John, Alfred Ese and Ogechi Chika and one Cameroonian.
While some of the survivors claimed that they are marine workers operating as boat drivers, mechanics and loaders, one of them claimed that he was working as an auxiliary nurse in a private hospital and another one said he was a stock fish trader at Liverpool, Apapa before abandoning their jobs to seek greener pastures abroad.
Narrating their ordeals to journalists, they claimed that they were brutalized and two of them fell into the sea and disappeared after they were discovered on board the ship and tortured by the crew of the vessel Ophelia Panama on which they attempted to enter into Europe illegally.
According to reports, the youthful Nigerians claimed that they used small canoes to access and sneaked into the engine compartment of Ophelia Panama where it berthed at Nigerdock around 12 midnight on September 6, 2022.
The ship brought iron rods to Nigeria and emptied its cargo before the stowaways found their ways into it.
The stowaways claimed they never met or knew one another until they met on the ship in preparation for their journey to their unknown destination.
According to them: “We met One another other on the ship, we are 14 Nigerian and one Cameroonian. We moved in at Nigerdock entering the vessel through the rudder side.”
Without allowing the crew to know that they were in the ship or they, having a clue of the intinery or final destination of Ophelia Panama, they embarked on the voyage with few personal belongings and some food items, hoping to berth at any port in European within three or four days after the takeoff.
However, lucky ran against them after about fifth day into the voyage, they exhausted their foods supplies and were starving.
To avoid dying of starvation, they decided to alert the crew of the ship of their presence onboard, identified themselves as stowaways and not sea pirates so they they could have sympathy for them and assist them in the journey.
However, on getting to know of illegal passengers aboard their vessel, the crew subjected to severe physical and mental torture by pouring hot water and harsh chemicals on them while they were on high sea.
“When the ship was moving after four days our food finished and so we wanted help from the crew. Unfortunately, the crew started spraying us with hot water and chemicals which were burning our skins while demanding us to jump into the high seas.,” the returnees lamented.”
They claimed that all pleas for sympathy and mercy made to the crew fell on deaf ears leading to two of them, Frank and Ossas falling off the engine room into the sea and disappeared.
“The crew opened a section of the engine roof, sent messages, written on a sheet of paper in English language to us, threatening us to jump into the sea or they would force us. When we didn’t jump into the sea as they ordered us, they poured more hot water and chemicals on us and in the process, two of us, Frank and Ossas lost their grips and fell off into the ocean and disappeared,” the returnees recalled with tears in their eyes.
However, at a point, the ship slow down and anchored on the high sea. They said the crew gave them life jackets and ordered them to jump into the sea and swim to safety with the threat to throw them off board if they refused to obey their order and jump into the sea with the lifejackets provided.
They were ordered to jump into the sea in their threes.
Two of them who could swim a bit, took the challenge, jumped into the sea with the life jackets. They however managed to a get ashore where they were rescued by Liberian fishermen who took them to an Immigration personnel.
After narrating their ordeals in the hands Ophelia Panama crew to the Immigration personnel, a Liberian maritime patrol team was mobilized to rescue the remaining stowaways on the ship.
But before the rescue team could get to the ship, the crew had forced another set of three stowaways to jump into the sea clinching onto the lifejacket. They too were later rescued while been drifted away by the waves.
The remaining two Nigerians and the Cameroonian were later rescued from the ship after they had been beaten and wounded by the crew.
Meanwhile, another set of two stowaways forced by the crew to jump into the sea were drifted to an island where they were rescued by another group of villagers while almost getting drown.
At the end of the rescue operation, the eleven surviving stowaways were handed over to the Immigration Service of Liberia to take care of before returning them to country.
The returnees who were full of appreciation to Liberian Authorities and citizens for saving their lives, said, “We were taken to hospital, took care of our wounds and treated us. They fed and clothed before they approached the Nigerian embassy in Liberia to issue the travelling documents with which we returned to Nigeria.
“It was after establishing that we’re Nigerian nationals that they took us to Nigerian embassy were they issued Emergency Traveling Certificate (ETC) with which we returned to the country on Thursday October 6, 2022.
Comptroller of Immigration Service, MMIA Command, CIS Adeola Adesokan who received the stowaways handed them over for documentation and profiling and made provisions for their feeding and allowed them to share their horrifying experiences for the world to hear.
” We discovered they are bonafide Nigerians making efforts to run away from the shores of the country. Their story is very harrowing, very pitiable. They were thrown into the high sea and left to destiny.
On behalf of the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, CGI Isah Jere Idris, we want to thank the Commander General for immigration, Liberia for their kind gesture,” she said.
