By By Promise Eze
One of the three Nigerian men who risked it all to stow away on the rudder of an oil tanker from Nigeria to the Spain’s Canary Islands has opened up about his journey and reasons for fleeing.
Few weeks ago a photograph of three Nigerians perched on the rudder of an oil tanker as it arrived in the Canary Islands went viral.
42-yr-old Henry A. told the Spanish news agency EFE that he was desperate to reach Europe to escape the insurgency in the southeastern part of Nigeria and to provide for his five siblings who depended on him for survival.
“I’ve seen people die. That’s why I decided to leave, because I wanted to survive,” Henry recalled.
Fleeing at all cost
On the dawn of November 17, 2022, the mechanic and father-of-one urged a fisherman in Lagos port to ferry him out to an oil tanker at anchor just off land, so that he could climb aboard its rudder. The ship, which turned out to be the Alithini II, was headed for the Canary Islands.
But it wasn’t the first time Henry made an attempt to leave Nigeria in this manner. In October 2020 he stowed away on an oil tanker’s rudder which was headed for Norway, but unfortunately for him he was deported in January 2022.
According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, about 295,000 Nigerians have fled to neighboring nations because of extreme hunger, terrorism and violence.
Two men soon joined him and they all barricaded themselves in a dark hollow with hardly any space and powered on.
A long journey with no food and water
For 11 days at sea every second was a battle between life and death.
Shortly after they began their journey, the migrants had accidentally dropped a bag with water and food into the sea. To survive, Henry taught the other migrants how to quench their thirst by wetting their lips with seawater.
It was also very difficult to get some sleep on board.
“You had to remain alert enough to not fall. The noise of the engine and the waves also kept us awake and constantly alert to the highly dangerous situation in which they found ourselves,” Henry explained.
“Thank God for having rescued me”
The migrants did not know where the ship was headed and when it would arrive at its destination, but they just prayed it would stop.
On the 11th day, they felt the ship’s engine slow down and then come to a stop. The group breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Thank God, because we were about to give up. If I had continued sailing for a few more days, none of us would have survived,” he noted.
According to EFE, all three men have sought asylum in Spain and some of them have already received provisional documents as applicants for international protection. In six months, they should even be able to start work. Henry A. said he can’t wait for that day to arrive.
Henry taking one last look at the photo of him and the other two men on the rudder of the ship said: “I can hardly believe it. That photo makes me think that this life is not easy. Thank you, God, for having rescued me.”
Promise Eze is a badass journalist and creative writer with Blackbox Nigeria. Reach him via [email protected].
