Libya Deports 1,000 Nigerians
BY ADEYEMI ADEPETU
IT was the end of search for greener pasture in Libya for no fewer than a thousand Nigerians as they were deported at the weekend by the authorities of the North African country.
The deportees who boarded a chartered Libyan aircraft landed at the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) shed of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Some of the deportees who wore gloomy faces told journalists, that one of the reasons for their deportation was that the Libyan leader Moammar Ghadaffi said that blacks were no longer needed in his country, so they should move out as soon as possible.
They claimed that though the Libyans themselves were not very friendly, life was very much comfortable for them in Libya.
Most of them claimed that they had been in Libya the past five to 10 years and that they left the shores of Nigeria to seek greener pasture in other African countries.
The deportees also claimed that one of the reasons for their immediate dismissal from Libya was the purported statement credited by the Libyan Government to President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, that Nigerians in Libya should come home because Nigeria "is now better, safer and conducive for people to live in".
They said it was not only Nigerians that were deported, but also nationals from other African countries like Togo, Ghana, Mali, and Tanzanians, but that the treatment meted out to Nigerians over there was terrible.
One of the deportees Susan Ray who hails from Edo State told The Guardian she left the shores of Nigeria 2002 to better her life. She claimed that she operated a restaurant in Tripoli before she was summarily deported from Libya.
She stressed that the Libyan officials maltreated her seriously and that most of her belongings were carted.
Her words: "I was treated like a slave; they did not allow me to pack my properties. They arrested me and looted all my belongings. They said our President said we should come back home, that Nigeria is better now, so I should leave the shores of Libya with immediate effect."
Another deportee, who gave his name as Dare Akinribido from a Southwest state recounted his ordeal at the hands of the Libyan officials.
He claimed that most of them were arrested on the road and taken to Zanru (prison) before they were released and given 48 hours to leave the country.
Dare who claimed to be a worker in one of the Libyan establishments also stressed that the Libyan officials treated them like animals.
His words: "They chased us up and down as if we did not have our papers. They treated us like animals."
He claimed that those who had original papers were not even permitted to stay behind "as every black was chased out."
Dare disclosed that another reason for their deportation was that the government claimed that the European Union stated that some illegal immigrants were crossing to different parts of Europe through one of the oceans in Libya and that if something urgent was not done the Libyan government risked sanctions.
Dare said the Nigerian embassy there made things worse for deportees as embassy officials allegedly never rendered any assistance to the distressed Nigerians, saying there was nothing they could do.
He stressed that other African countries embassies' in Tripoli made provisions for their citizens by evacuating them to a camp, helping them to pack their belongings while keeping them together till they left the shores of Libya
Some of the deportees also claimed that Ghadaffi even made provisions in terms of money, about $2000 for each deportee through their embassies but that the Nigerian embassy claimed ignorance of this.
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