260 Nigerians arrested in Algeria, dumped in desert
By Augustine Madu West, Snr Correspondent, Kano

Some 260 Nigerians arrested by the Algerian authorities for illegally staying in that country have been dumped in the desert where their fate now hangs in the balance.





Those who managed to escape to Mali and Niger Republic said hundreds of them were rounded up in Oran and Tammarasett, both desert towns, in a raid carried out by Algerian immigration officials, and abandoned in Tizawarty, which is seven miles into the Sahara desert.


They have been exposed to inhuman treatment, just like other immigrants described as illegal; and that has resulted in deaths from lack of food, shelter, and water.


Omo Osas, 27, an indigene of Edo State who made it to Niamey in Niger Republic from the Tizawarty 'death camp,' said he was fortunate to have escaped.


"I was on my way to purchase my ticket to Morocco. I only transited in Oran in Algeria when, suddenly, some policemen emerged and formed a ring around me. They later bundled me into a waiting vehicle without interrogation. I was now taken to their station where I was compelled to sign a document written in Arabic, the content of which I do not understand.


"The following day I was moved to the prison where I also met hundreds of fellow Nigerians with the same tale of woe. It was terribly rough as we lived on a loaf of Obza bread and water throughout our stay in detention," he recalled.


Osas confirmed that many Nigerians still stranded in Tizawarty have developed mental strain as a result of the inhuman treatment meted out to them, which has also forced them to take hard drugs.


"We also gathered that in Kalit, a Malian town bordering Algeria, Nigerian ladies are stranded in large numbers, after being aided to move out Algeria by some suspected Arab human traffickers who ply the route with their trucks and Tuareg rebels who also ferry them out of the danger zone for a fee."


Another victim, Cynthia Ogenyi, recounted that she went to Algeria on the understanding that it would facilitate her journey to Europe, specifically Italy.


Instead, she ended up in the sex trade in Tammarasett.


"I paid a huge sum of money with the hope of crossing into Europe, but after two years outside I am stranded," Cynthia lamented.


"Here am I returning home empty handed. My advice is for other girls to be careful when talked into movement abroad, especially through Libya or Algeria."


But that counsel is hardly heeded.


Hundreds of other Nigerians still take the risk of heading for Europe through the North African countries of Libya, Algeria, and Morocco.


They pass through the Sahara desert axis of Agadez and Arlit in Niger Republic or through Gao in Northern Mali that has become notorious for human trafficking syndicates.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/jul/6/29.html

This is probably not a good time for a joke, but if anyone should ever ask why it is impossible to starve in the desert, you will be able to say you heard at Nairaland that it is because of all the sandwiches there.

Jakumo:

This is probably not a good time for a joke, but if anyone should ever ask why it is impossible to starve in the desert, you will be able to say you heard at Nairaland that it is because of all the sandwiches there.

I doff my hat to you, sir

sandwishes abi

I seem to recall a certain amount of furore following the perceived ill treatment of a Nigerian deportee by citizens of a particular country.

Strange to see that there's no thunder for this issue concerning 260 deportees from another country.

maybe because there's a difference between a legal migrant and an illegal one?

Unless the situation is exactly the same and I'm missing something here?

I'm not justifying the treatment they received, but in any case the story is just breaking, so give people time to digest the information.


[s]Why are so many Nigerians into prostitution?[/s]

No Caucasians involved or to blame? Nothing to see here then. . . .move along.

Embarrassing.

Anything to escape Nigeria.

@tpia
Where in the article did you see that these guys were 'legal migrants'?!

The majority of these people are illegals enroute Italy via human smuggling rings.

Nigeria hmmmmm !!!!

texazzpete:

@tpia
Where in the article did you see that these guys were 'legal migrants'?!

The majority of these people are illegals enroute Italy via human smuggling rings.

texazzpete:

I seem to recall a certain amount of furore following the perceived ill treatment of a Nigerian deportee by citizens of a particular country.

Strange to see that there's no thunder for this issue concerning 260 deportees from another country.

the Algerian situation isnt exactly the same as the British one. In that case, legal migrants were made to share the punishment being given the deportee.

abeg I no fit talk.  If you want to advocate people being left to die in the desert simply because you feel no one has the right to raise an alarm, then go ahead.

The day you or someone close to you becomes a victim of the kind of treatment you condone,wont be a surprise at least.

wow ! ! !
i wish them goodluck

wow ! ! !
i wish them goodluck

You can't send groceries for them?

RedHotChic:

You can't send groceries for them?

lol.They are nigerians,they wud survive.

lol

pls face the pertinent issues and stop trivialising something really sad and serious with useless wise cracks,this is totally diffrent frm the ba issue rather our thoughts should be about why nigerian ladies and guys are willing to go through all that stress and spare a thought for the ones that r dead,wounded or still in prison,for these of you abroad making fun of them thank your stars it was easy for you cause any of these guys or girls could as well be you

Don't cry more than the bereaved Luca

The point they are trying to make (albeit tongue in cheek) is that there is NO outcry over 260 lives left to perish in the desert as the direct action of a foreign government (albeit non Caucasian) while a similar case of one or two people from the 'West' will cause wild outcry.

The BA case is not the only one - recently a Nigerian died on a plane while being deported from Spain and the outcry came as well, but these 260 souls do not deserve a similar outcry or concern?

The crux of the facetious comments is basically that Nigerians like to be selective with their outrage - if its at the perceived colonizers/oyibos in the "West" then fight for your rights, when its your fellow 'African' (dunno how African Algerians are anyways) brothers carrying out the maltreatment, there is deafening silence.

Any government panel investigating this case? Any calls for apology from the Algerian police? none

Sad and Serious

i guess being on Nairaland is helping those people right now.

The thing just happened nah.

Can people give a little credit where its due on occasion.

abi are folks supposed to react before there's an incident.

The government and concerned citizens in Nigeria have at various times spoken out on behalf on Nigerians abroad. There was a news story somewhere about a committee of concerned Nigerians who called on the Libyan government to send all Nigerians languishing in the Libyan jails, back to Nigeria. The two Nigerians executed in Indonesia, were refused expatriation back home even though Nigerian government officials had pleaded on their behalf. Yaradua expressed his displeasure at the British Airways fiasco.

abeg are people expecting some Nigerian superman to fly in and magically right every wrong instantaneously? It took time for Nigerians in diaspora to earn their negative reputation, and it will take more time to fix it.

This attitude of demanding instant solution to all problems is what got us into the quandary in the first place.

abeg are people expecting some Nigerian superman to fly in and magically right every wrong instantaneously? It took time for Nigerians in diaspora to earn their negative reputation, and it will take more time to fix it.

This attitude of demanding instant solution to all problems is what got us into the quandary in the first place.

No but we need to garner more respect so as to avoid this. While am getting tired of flogging Nigeria, Algeria must be a terrorist nation for doing a thing like this. How can you take human beings and dump them at the desert? Duh? What is the difference between what they did and what the Nazis did to the Jews?

@post
well its not the first time something like this has happenend to our African Brothers and Sisters. Its happened before. I remember hearing about it in a documentary where some Africans were just rounded up and dumped in the desert a guy who had an official UNICEF asylum document called med sen frontier a french charity organisation who were able arrange transportation and rescue them from their situation

debosky:

Don't cry more than the bereaved Luca

The point they are trying to make (albeit tongue in cheek) is that there is NO outcry over 260 lives left to perish in the desert as the direct action of a foreign government (albeit non Caucasian) while a similar case of one or two people from the 'West' will cause wild outcry.

The BA case is not the only one - recently a Nigerian died on a plane while being deported from Spain and the outcry came as well, but these 260 souls do not deserve a similar outcry or concern?

The crux of the facetious comments is basically that Nigerians like to be selective with their outrage - if its at the perceived colonizers/oyibos in the "West" then fight for your rights, when its your fellow 'African' (don't know how African Algerians are anyways) brothers carrying out the maltreatment, there is deafening silence.

Any government panel investigating this case? Any calls for apology from the Algerian police? none

hmmn i see what you mean,but i think actions and condemnation has to start from us as individuals,i think the reason why theres no actions/outrage on these sad occurences is because of our deficient president,when diplomatic postings are made on the basis of political party afiliations and a way of compensations rather than installing career diplomats,when nigeria is reduced to having the likes of obanikoro who requires great effort stringing a sentence of english together who dyu expect

No mind dem yeye guyz, na stone dem take pursue my guy for Libya in 1998.Thank God na desert dem still drop you, dem no use stone kill you.

But to be honest Nigeria is got problem, citizens cant even stay there to enjoy themselves. You cannot get job easily, you cannot get school admission easily, no benefit for disable people or people struggling. No care home for the elders. Infact in one word the government dont look after the citizen which should have been their first priority.

Thank God for Yaradua, at least he is still standing up for citizens when such problem arise unlike dem former presidents, dem go just sit don dey chop money like mumu.

@ debosky

I do not think Algerians are our brothers because they do not behave like a brother.

Don't cry for me Argentina Nigeria, the truth is you never loved me, thats why i packed my bags and went long distance across the desert, to get to Europe.

Lord have mercy.

They used stones to pursue some west Africans/Nigerians out of Libya?




There are just some places I have zero desire to see, in this world.

Countries that value human rights have humane ways of handling illegal immigrants

Nigeria must immediately cut all ties with Algeria.

When people were flocking into Nigeria in the 70s illegals and legals, they were not dumped anywhere, be it the Semi Desert of the North or the Delta of the South. They were transported back to their countries.

Countries that value human rights have humane ways of handling illegal immigrants

Nigeria must immediately cut all ties with Algeria.

When people were flocking into Nigeria in the 70s illegals and legals, they were not dumped anywhere, be it the Semi Desert of the North or the Delta of the South. They were transported back to their countries.

Word!!!!

Spanish news today said that 14 Nigerians died trying to cross over the MED sea today!! sad

pls be very careful to look at the bigger picture before blaming these countries,first its not their fault that our country is in shambles so they shouldnt be made to pay for it by us constituting a nuisance as illegal immigrants,also the cause of the whole mistreating nigerians all over the world is as a result of our various high commissions who dont take action,if your country doesnt value you and by extension the high commission/ambassador is only interested in all the money he can make and not the citizen's welafre then how can/will you expect a foreign nation to give any respect?
having said that i feel for these people and can only imagine what will have pushed a pregnant woman to make that kind of journey in her condition