By: Thomas Abidoye
A 28-year-old woman from Osun State, Victoria Abosede, has shared her horrifying experience of travelling illegally to Libya through the desert, drinking from animal troughs, enduring forced labour, and spending months in a crowded prison before her eventual deportation.
Abosede, who spoke with Punch, said she embarked on the journey from Ori-Ade Local Government in January 2024 after separating from her husband and losing one of her two children to illness.
She explained that her goal was to work for three years in Libya, save money, and return to Nigeria to start a small business.
According to her, the journey from Kano to Libya took one month and two days, with migrants packed into the back of a Hilux truck like animals, and some falling to their deaths along the way.
She recounted that in Niger Republic, they spent seven days before proceeding into the desert, where survival meant drinking water from petrol kegs and sharing dirty ponds with camels and donkeys.
Abosede said they moved from one ghetto to another in the desert, relying on soaked garri and scavenged food, often going for days without proper shelter or water.
She recalled that upon arriving in Libya, her agent housed her for a week before placing her in an Arab household as a domestic worker under harsh and degrading conditions.
According to her, she worked long hours with little rest, was fed only twice a day, and was forced to care for her employer’s child in addition to doing exhaustive cleaning tasks.
She stated that after moving through three different employers in six months, she was arrested by Libyan police while visiting her agent, for not having a passport.
Abosede said she was held in police custody for seven days and later transferred to a prison in Tripoli, where she spent over four months without trial or communication with the outside world.
She revealed that the prison conditions were terrible, with over 1,000 inmates in one hall, little food, no healthcare, and deaths occurring frequently among children and pregnant women.
Abosede said she had registered for deportation in November 2024 and was finally released and returned to Nigeria on March 18, 2025, along with over 150 other deportees.
She stated that on arrival in Lagos, the government welcomed them with food and shelter, and promised to support them with small business capital within three months.
According to her, some returnees have been contacted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), but she is still waiting for her own startup support to begin trading food or secondhand clothes.
Abosede advised young women in Osun and across Nigeria never to fall for agents’ lies about high-paying jobs in Libya, saying the reality is brutal, degrading, and life-threatening.
She described her ordeal as deeply traumatic and urged the government to intensify public awareness campaigns to stop illegal migration and trafficking of vulnerable Nigerians.