Surviving Libya: A Nigerian Migrant's Account

Lilian smiles as she tastes for first time Nigerian jollof rice after spending five years in Libya.

“When I was pregnant, I craved plantain and jollof rice. I was looking at pictures on Facebook dreaming about it.”

The 32-year-old is the mother of two little girls, Sofia and Sonia, aged 4 years and 5 months respectively. She gave birth on her own in Tripoli while her husband, Ahmed, was working to provide for his growing family.

“I gave birth in our house,” she recounts.

“It was only me. I was in labour for three days, and nobody knew.” She went to the local hospital to seek help when she felt ready to deliver. However, without the appropriate documentation like a passport, a marriage certificate, or a COVID-19 test, it was impossible to get support. She also lacked the money to pay for an operation. Helpless and alone with little Sofia at home, she gave birth on her own.

Lilian arrived in Libya at the end of July 2017 in search of a better future. Having lost her parents at a very young age, she grew up alone in the suburbs of Benin City in the South of Nigeria.

“It was hard, I had to take care of everything and had no one to turn to.” Lilian grew through this experience and never gave up on life. Her ambition was to become a nurse, but she did not have enough money for school fees. Some of her friends had told her stories of Nigerians earning good money in Libya. She was tempted as her prospects at home looked bleak. After 15 rough days travelling from Benin City to Kano, Niger and through the Sahara Desert, she finally made it to Tripoli.

When in Tripoli, she connected with other fellow Nigerians and found a job as cleaner in a house. “People were unkind to me just because I was African.”

Life in Libya was not as she had imagined. Kidnappings, beatings, imprisonment, extorsion, and abuse are commonplace for migrants transiting or living in Libya.

“In Libya, we sleep with one eye open. One needs to be ready to run at any time,” Lilian emphasizes. 

One night her family was forced out of the house as the landlord suddenly rushed in asking for a higher rent. “If you can’t pay, they throw you out of the house immediately. They would come in with guns and metal batons ready to beat you.”

Unable to pay the increased rent, they packed up their belongings and left in the middle of the night.

For a few days they squatted with other Nigerians until her husband found another room.

At the new house, she said that the landlord made very inappropriate remarks and advances.One day, when her husband Ahmed was away for  work outside of Tripoli, her landlord became more aggressive and tried to force himself on her. She immediately pushed him away screaming and shouting.

As she didn’t submit to his aggressions, he kicked the family out of the house the very same day. Once again they were in the streets for days until they found a place to stay.

Lilian used to receive some baby products, food and medicines from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya as she did not have enough to feed both children.  She had heard about IOM’s return and reintegration assistance and decided, after years of hardship to go back to Nigeria.

“Going back home felt like a dream after all I experienced in Libya,” she says. Her plan was to leave earlier than October 2022 but being in the eighth month of pregnancy she had to wait a few weeks until it was safe for her and the baby to fly.

Lilian is among the 126 Nigerians who arrived home safely from Libya on 13th October 2022. So far more than 3,000 Nigerians who have been assisted by IOM with voluntary return from Libya since January 2022. The partnership between IOM and the European Union under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration has been instrumental in helping give Nigerians a new perspective back home.