The fate of the Nigerian men brings into view the desperate solutions that people fleeing poverty and violence in their homelands are ready to resort to.
At the turn of June and July, four Nigerian men hid in a cramped space above the rudder of a large cargo ship. Ahead was a risky sea voyage to Europe, the men thought.
On the tenth day of the journey, food and water ran out. Four days after that, the cargo ship reached its destination, where a surprise awaited the stowaways.
The ship was not on its way to Europe, but to a much more distant continent: South America.
There was quite a bit of astonishment when the police who came to meet the cargo ship in a boat on the coast of the city of Vitória in Brazil told the migrants where they had ended up.
– I thought I was on my way to Europe. Suddenly I found myself here in Brazil, says one of the men, Roman Goimene Fridaynews agency for Reuters.
Two of the men have since returned to Nigeria, but Friday and the other man have sought asylum in Brazil. Both state that the reason for leaving their home country is economic difficulties, political instability and violence.
In the hope of a better life, they were ready to risk their lives.
Friday says that he was able to board a ship sailing under the Liberian flag at the end of June, when a fisherman took him to the ship in his rowing boat. Surprisingly, three other men were already hiding over the rudder.
At first, Friday was afraid that the other stowaways would push him into the sea. Later, the men began to fear together that the ship’s crew would find them and throw them overboard.
After running out of drinking water, the men drank sea water to quench their thirst for four days. The waves of the Atlantic were crashing just meters below the men’s hiding place. They tied themselves up with a net so they wouldn’t fall into the sea. Whales and sharks swam directly below.
Another of the men left in Brazil, a priest who lost his home and farm in the floods Thankgod Opemipo Yeye tells Reuters that he was afraid throughout the sea voyage.
– The experience was terrible, but I had made my decision and gathered my courage. But it wasn’t easy when the ship rocked at sea. I was so scared. But now I’m here in Brazil, says Yeye.
Source: Reuters