Why I left Nigeria? Life wasn’t easy for me. So what about yours, how was your trip?
I met somebody who promised to help me. We started the journey and he told me not to worry. On the road I found out I was pregnant. He told me I shouldn’t give birth, I should abort. I then asked him why I should do that. Then the smuggler took me to a house and beat me, saying I must abort it. He gave me a drug to take. I drank it, it didn’t work and he started beating me. I told him I will not abort my baby. We reached Agadez (Niger). The journey wasn’t easy, they beat me a lot and I didn’t know why.
[…]
It wasn’t easy for me with my pregnancy in Agadez. They told me we were going to Dirkou. They told us to stay on the alert. We spent over a week there. I didn’t leave the house. They locked us up in one room and if you went out, you’d have a problem. When we got to Dirkou, our food was finished. We had to manage with what little we had and it wasn’t easy. There was no water. We had to drink urine and water mixed with petrol on our way from Dirkou to Libya. I was vomiting and there was nobody to help me. People died on the road they left them there.
[…]
When we got to Libya, they locked us up and wanted to sell us to a Madam. The Madam used us to earn money. She traded us one by one as prostitutes in order to make money. Because I was pregnant, they couldn’t sell me. I spent two months inside that room before we crossed. I didn’t go anywhere. I had nothing to do. That was my situation when I got to Libya. I don’t how it was for you?
[…]
They took us to the seaside. When we got there we had to hide in the bushes by the seaside. If you’re caught, you’ll be taken to prison and you’ll suffer. You'll have to pay to bail yourself out from their prison. I suffered that day before I was told I could cross. We were about 150 inside a small boat. Soon there was no water, it was finished, everything was finished in the boat.
There was nothing to eat, no fuel, no water, nothing to drink. We spent four days inside the boat. We reached Malta. They rescued us but it was not an easy journey. People die every day in the sea. The boats are full and people drown with nobody to rescue them. This is not for Nigerians alone but the whole of Africa. All Africans must be very careful and think well before they do this.
Nothing is easy on that road. Whether you’re traveling with a man or not, it’s not easy. You're on your own. There is no sister or brother there. Everybody is on their own.
[…]
As for Europe, they deceive people and say you can find work there. But it’s a lie, the only work here is prostitution.
Narrative source Telling the Real Story facilitated by UNHCR
Original Narrative can be found at https://www.tellingtherealstory.org/pcm/stories/video/miracle-zeinabs-story/
