By Ghazali Ibrahim
Investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo has revealed how African migrants attempting to reach Europe through Libya are passed through a complex network of traffickers, with some spending weeks stranded in harsh conditions before their journey even reaches the Sahara Desert.
Soyombo disclosed this in the first part of his latest undercover investigation published by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism on Wednesday after spending 47 days travelling from Nigeria through Niger Republic to Libya as a migrant.
The investigation began in Kano, where Soyombo entered a migrant network and was introduced to a “connection man” who linked him to another trafficker responsible for the next stage of the journey.
According to him, a journey from Nigeria to Libya can involve one connection man and between 20 and 30 traffickers before a migrant eventually reaches the destination.
The system means migrants are repeatedly transferred from one person to another, with each person responsible for a different section of the journey.
Soyombo said his own journey exposed him to the financial demands and uncertainty built into the system. He paid a total of about N1.3 million to Buhari Umar Adamu, popularly known as Alhaji Buzu, who was supposed to facilitate his movement to Libya.
But instead of a straightforward journey, Soyombo spent 18 days in Agadez, Niger Republic, waiting for transportation.
Thirteen of those days were spent inside a room where he slept on the floor without a mattress or pillow. He said temperatures during the period ranged between 38°C and 42°C, while his diet was largely limited to bread and water or soaked garri.
The journalist also discovered that migrants could be left stranded for weeks or even months.
He recounted meeting people who had reportedly spent weeks waiting for the next stage of their journey, while another group of more than 100 mostly Yoruba travellers had allegedly been stranded in a settlement in Niger for over three months.
The conditions, according to Soyombo, were part of a system in which migrants had little control over when they would leave or who would ultimately transport them.
He said traffickers deliberately kept departure times uncertain, with migrants waiting for sudden announcements that a vehicle had arrived.
When Soyombo eventually left Agadez, the journey became even more dangerous. He was transported on top of a heavily loaded pickup truck alongside other migrants and was warned not to sleep.
“If you sleep, you fall off. And if you fall off, you die,” one of the traffickers reportedly warned.
Soyombo’s investigation also documented migrants sleeping in makeshift camps and open spaces, with some locations situated close to refuse dumps.
The investigation suggests that for many migrants, the danger of irregular migration begins long before the Mediterranean crossing.
They can first face exploitation, financial losses, confinement, extreme weather and uncertainty while moving through the trafficking network across West Africa.
Soyombo said the migrants he encountered were driven largely by the search for economic opportunities, with poverty and insecurity contributing to the decision to undertake the dangerous journey.
