When Ifeoma’s business in Nigeria failed and she got into debt, her husband kicked her out of her home. She was in a desperate situation, but then she met a woman who told her she could take her to Libya to work as a housemaid. Ifeoma saw this as a chance to earn money to pay off her debts. But the journey was not as she had expected.
"When we took off, we drove into the desert and that’s when the suffering, crying and pain started. They loaded us in the truck like frozen fish in a box. The drivers had no pity for humans and speeded like they were flying. Many people fell off and died on the road.”
Having arrived in Libya, Ifeoma did get a job as a housemaid. She liked the work and the family she worked for were decent people, but the general situation in Libya was rapidly deteriorating. There was constant insecurity.
"Libya is a place where you can’t get peace of mind even for one day. You can never sleep with both eyes shut. One day in April 2018, they started shooting with bombs and guns. So the family called me saying they were going back to their village because many houses were being bombed. I had nowhere to stay.”
She had not thought about going to Europe before, but now she was fearing for her life if she stayed in Libya. Some friends offered her to join them on a smuggler’s boat. After three days at sea, the boat started to take in water. A fishing boat saw their distress and called the Libyan coast guard, but before the coast guard arrived, a Maltese ship rescued them and took them to Malta. Ifeoma says that if she had known how dangerous the journey to Libya would be, she would never have gone. She is telling others that they will put their lives at risk if they take that road.