- Cleric doles out N16m, food items, clothes
- We’ll expose our traffickers, victims vow
It was like a dream. Hundreds of Nigerians from Libya danced in gladness and were full of gratitude to have been deported home. Chorusing songs of praise at the hallowed worship auditorium of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe community of Lagos, these men and women, who had set out on a voyage to Europe in search of greener pastures, suddenly found themselves marooned in Libya, where their supposed tour guides played Judas, by selling them into slavery.
But at last, reprieve came their way as the Federal Government buckled under public outrage by expressing willingness to bring back home, all Nigerian citizens languishing in the Libyan serfdom. Yet, government help was slow in coming the way of these Nigerians, some of whom had been manacled, tethered to door-posts, ready to be sold like goats on market days, with many others tied in bond on refuse dumps, to soon be incinerated as in a pogrom.
However, salvation from the Libyan damnation has been coming the way of such deportees, numbering over 2000 in the last four months, when following their deportation, prominent Nigerian cleric and founder of the SCOAN, Pastor T.B. Joshua, undertook their resettlement here in Nigeria.
So far, the Man of God, as Pastor Joshua is fondly called, has reportedly disbursed over N16 million to assist in returning home, the enslaved Nigerians and to also rehabilitate them while at home, as virtually all of them arrived empty-handed, desolate and largely spirit-broken.
Speaking with The Point at a grand reception held for the Libyan deportees at the SCOAN last week, a member of the church, Mr. Oluseun Daniel-Kolade, said, “I wonder why people are just talking of what Daddy (TB Joshua) is doing to help the Libyan deportees now. He has been helping to bring them home once the news of how our people there were suffering broke out four months ago.
“He has been refreshing these deportees without making noise, as that is the way God actually sent him. But now, everything has become public knowledge because many of the deportees, who had been rehabilitated, just flooded here, wanting to see him in person, to express their appreciation.”
It was observed that each of the deportees was given sums raging from N150,000 to half a million naira, to enable them resettle by getting accommodation, or return to their native homes where they can start life afresh. They were also offered food items like bags of rice, yam flour, semovita and wheat. Also, the deportees were splashed with packs of new clothes and shoes, loaded in decent travel bags
‘OUR ORDEAL IN LIBYA’
In their accounts, two of the Libyan deportees, who simply identified selves as Victory and Osazee, respectively, broke down in tears as they recounted their ordeals in the North African country.
Victory said, “I had lived for days with decomposing bodies and skeletons of my fellow migrants who, due to thirst and hunger, slumped and died on our endless treks through the Sahara Desert. I also witnessed the death of many of my fellow Nigerians, whose lives were cut short by brute force. Life there was a wasteland with no sign of hope! Somehow, I was able to find myself in a detention camp, where I granted a heart-rending interview to the CNN and I learnt the interview alarmed our people here in Nigeria.”
He thanked the Man of God, for “making us feel like human beings again”, stressing that at a stage, he had foreclosed the possibility of any deliverance.
On his part, Osazee recalled his travail on his road to Europe through Libya, which resulted in his arrest, imprisonment and subsequent deportation, despite having scaled so many hurdles in his effort to escape the Nigerian hardship and work to improve his living in Europe.
“So, when I came back and was faced with the stark reality of my emptiness, I turned towards the direction of SCOAN, having heard of the charitable works of Prophet T.B. Joshua and the Emmanuel TV Partners and what they had been doing for fellow deportees,” he enthused.
Victory and Osazee who came to The SCOAN alongside hundreds of other deportees, benefitted from the naira rain, got bags of food items and were also given succour with words of exhortation from The SCOAN evangelists.
RIGHTS GROUP COMMENDS CLERIC
Commenting on TB Joshua’s gesture, Convener of Conference of Nigeria Civil Rights Activists, Comrade Ifeanyi Odili, said, “It is clear that T.B Joshua was inspired by the Holy Spirit in his efforts to bring smile on the faces of these disillusioned Nigerians who just came back from the slave camps of Libya; they’re back to a country they had run away from because of lack. Now, they are back, empty
-handed.
“So many people, both Nigerians and foreigners, have continued to benefit from this cleric’s milk of human kindness. Through his miracle performances, charity works and his ministry’s Emmanuel TV Partners, millions of lives, nations and destinies have been positively affected across the world.
He has often said that true love always searches for who to help whenever and wherever it is in a position to do so.
How he has been able to maturely manage the bad press emanating from the collapsed building incident remains very phenomenal. He has maintained a calm and unperturbed disposition – a quality that can only be God-given, especially in situations of crisis. T.B. Joshua is the only Nigerian pastor that is hardly seen around the corridors of power. You will never find him in any government house because he believes that a true servant of God should be for all and not frolic around with politicians.”
Odili is also the National General Secretary of Campaign for Democracy.
RETURNEES VOW TO EXPOSE TRAFFICKERS
Meanwhile, in Benin, the Edo State capital, some of the deportees, many of who are teenagers and persons in their 20s, recalled their various ordeals, vowing to take their pound of flesh on traffickers who lured them away from their parents, with the promise to give them decent jobs in Italy and other parts
of Europe.
The victims, who would not want their names in print, for security reason, said they were ready to lead officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to the houses of members of the human
trafficking cartels in the state, and in Europe.
“We know where the human traffickers live in the state. Some of the madams are in Italy and in other European countries, and have relatives in Benin, who take the girls to native doctors and some pastors for oath-taking,” they said.
The victims said they were ready to work with the Federal Government to unmask the faces behind the illicit b
usiness.
One of the victims said, “We want to form a strong advocacy and support group that will assist the Federal Government to bring an end to illegal migration and human trafficking in Edo State.
We had a terrible experience in Libya and would not wish same for anybody. We are ready to name and shame them and give names and addresses of these dealers in human flesh to the
government.”
Only recently, the acting Chairman, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, had expressed the commission’s resolve to go after human
traffickers.
Magu, who said this while receiving a delegation from the NAPTIP, which paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, said the anti-graft agency had jurisdiction over human trafficking, which he said was an offshoot of corruption. In a statement issued by the agency’s spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, he said, “We are prepared to go after human traffickers, because we strongly believe that it is an aspect of corruption, and corruption is the greatest
enemy of Nigeria.
Corruption is the reason young Nigerians are risking their lives, walking through the Mediterranean up to Spain and other European countries in search of greener
pastures.
“It is a very sad situation and we must change the trend by ensuring that we join hands to fight corruption, as this is the only solution to the ills militating against our country’s development.”
