Libya Returnees: Another Batch Arrives PH Airport

Another batch of Nigerian deportees from Libya arrived the Port Harcourt International Airport Omagwa lastTuesday, just as the first batch had arrived at the same airport last Sunday evening.
The Tide gathered that the flight from Libya carrying the deportees, numbering 540 persons including young men and women as well as new born babies, touched down at the airport tarmac at about 3.35 am last Tuesday.
Narrating their ordeals in the hands of the Libyan officials when interacting with newsmen, one of the deportees, who gave his name as Nosa from Edo State said he was pushed to take such risky adventure to Libya six months ago because of the hardship he faced.
Nosa said he gained admission to read Economics in Delta State University, but could not continue due to lack of help, as his parents could not meet up financially.
“As the first son in the family, I decided to take the challenge to move out to make things, happen, but unfortunately the journey was tough for me.
“I died twice in the desert as we were going, but another driver picked me up from the road where they abandoned me, only to realize that I was in Libya when God woke me up, as they were puring me cold water.
“The Libyan people maltreated us especially the men. They raided us, and no man among us came back even with a tooth brush.
“The money I saved which is about N60,000 equivalent was kept in a whole I created at the collar of my sweater, but they forced us to abandone everything and it is only the women they allowed to carry their bags”, Nosa stated.
Asked if he will still return later to Libya, Nosa said, even his dog will never touch the land of Libya again because of high discrimination and torture.
Also expressing her mind on their return, another deportee who gave her name as Mary, from Delta State said there is no place like home, pointing out that their experience in Libya was a very sad one.
Mary was full of praise to the Federal Government, especially the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for taking care of them on their arrival
Most of the deportees, The Tide can authoritatively report are from Edo State, followed by Delta, while the pockets of the remaining spread to other states.
The Director, Search and Rescue of NEMA, Abuja, Dr. Onimode Bamidele while speaking to newsmen at the camp where the deportees were kept said that they were in touch with various state governments and that various state would come and receive their citizens, and thanked the Rivers State government for showing concern.
Altogether, the number of deportees from Libya that arrived Port Harcourt airport now stood at 1,030.

Corlins Walter