Vanessa’s Story: A journey through hell
Vanessa’s Story
- A struggling mother,
- a lost child,
- and a regretful endeavour
For Naija, Vanessa struggle to feed her three pikin after her abusive husband purshu her comot for house. She been dey hawk fruit dey sell and she also dey make hair for pipo, but still her hand nor reach mouth. Then one day, one friend yarn her say she get sista for Italy wen get salon, say Vanessa fit go work for dere. Na so Vanessa reason am say she don hammer dream opportunity!
“She say mai ready. I ask say how everything take arrange like that. She say her sister wan cari me. So I take my baby along, I con leave di two of dem with my mama"
Dem tell her say the joni go easy, so Vanessa no ready for the reality of the waka, unto say she nor know. Her first shock happun when she reach desert begin see dead pipo and skelentin for desert.
When she reach Tripoli, Vanessa and her felo travellers dey inside one smuggler compound dey wait to cross di sea when, from nowhere, fight begin happun among the agbero dem for the neighbourhood. As dem dey shoot upandan, her baby wen get fever con before condition con begin worse. One guy wen be Vanessa friend con cari say e wan go buy medicine for di pikin, next tin the guy collet bullet die, as soon as di guy die, Vanessa pikin follow die.
"When my baby die nai dem bust di house. So mai cari my baby na, nai den drag di baby comot for my hand. Den push us, den say make we enter hilux . Den say if den enter dis house, all of us den go kill us, nai den take cari us comot"
"So as den take do dat baby, I no know. I no know whether na thowey den con trowey am now o, because di baby die for hand"
Na heavy chest Vanessa take enta di boat wen dey go italy but dem capture deir boat along di way con send dem go back to Libya. Dem begin force all of dem to call deir family for ransom, until di woman wen dey Italy con finally pay Vanessa ransom.
The second time wen dem try to cross di sea, dem catch dem again, and this time dem transfer dem go jail wen get very bad condition. Dem no see enuf food chop and di jail guard dey always abuse dem.
Las las one Ghana man bail Vanessa comot for dere cari her go house go dey do her anyhow sexually. Later di man cari Vanessa sell give one brothel where she con dey work as ashawo o pay her gbese. Afta she pay the madam finish, she continue to dey so ashawo so that she go fit raise moni take cross sea again
“I nor get choice because for Libya, na everybody mai just cari hin own cross, nai we dey for Libya. You no go see who go help, and before them go help you, you must use your body take settle yourself"
Afta all dis horrible experience, vanessa las las reach italy where her eye con open say na ashawo be di hairdresser job wen den promise her.
Now Vanessa dey live for one reception centre, she no know her future. She tok say her biggest regret na her decision to cari her pikin folo bodi. She dey blame herself for the death of the boy wen try to help her wey con finally die in the process. She been no know di danger wey dey the joni, if to say she know, she for don leave her pikin with her mama.