Sunday Ani

One of the irregular migrants who came back recently from Libya through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Mr. Ephraim Okundolor, has revealed how he survived in the desert.

He described his experience as very bloody and one that he would not wish his worst enemy.

He thanked the IOM for saving him from imminent death and advised intending Nigerians to refrain from travelling through the desert route as many have perished in the process.

He told Daily Sun over the phone from Benin, the Edo State capital that he personally took part in the burial of many persons who died as they journeyed along the desert and expressed gratitude to God for sparing his life.

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He said: “My experience was like a nightmare. It is something I don’t want to remember again in my life. In my own team, we lost a good number of people – about 10 persons in all.

We buried all of them in the desert. The last person we buried died two days after we had left the desert. They all died as a result of exhaustion from the scorching sun.

There was no water, no food, no medicine, nothing and the sun was so intense. To survive, you need to take milk; glucose and lucozade but we had none of those.”

He also revealed how so many persons lost their lives during the last lap of their journey to Suprata; a seaside in Tripoli, from where migrants cross over to Europe, using rubber boats.

He said: “On our way to Suprata, a seaside from where we would cross over the sea to Italy, about 400 of us were squeezed into a truck.

It was such a nasty and painful experience. And at some point, part of the truck pulled off and many people fell off, while another truck coming behind ran over them, smashing and crushing them to death instantly.”

Okundolor said he regretted embarking on the journey, and warned intending Nigerians to seek for legal alternative route to Europe if they must travel.

“I lost everything in the journey. If I knew what I know now, I would not have taken the risk,” he said.