𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹: 47 𝑫𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 - 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝑶𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝑻𝒐 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆 (𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 2)
Journalist Fisayo Soyombo has published the second chapter of his undercover report on how Africans risk their lives to reach Europe through the Sahara Desert. The investigation was originally done by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, FIJ. Soyombo spent 47 days living as a migrant, travelling from Kano in Nigeria through Niger Republic into Libya, with the hope of crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.
According to him, this second part of the three-part series shows how African migrants lose everything on the desert route their dignity, money, belongings and freedom in the hands of Arab traffickers.
Soyombo explained that their truck left Agadez at 6:39am on Friday, June 12, 2026. There were five passengers and six traffickers. Two traffickers sat in front with the driver, while four sat at the back with the migrants.
He said their bags were tied so tightly that they could not bring out soap, toothpaste or toothbrush. They had to wash with only water.
Just 30 minutes into the journey, the first injury happened. A migrant identified as Bamidele failed to bend down on time when the truck passed through thorny bushes. The shrubs hooked his headwarmer, pulled it off and left his head bleeding. About 15 minutes later, Austin suffered the same fate.
The real humiliation started when the truck got stuck in mud caused by the previous day's rain. Soyombo said the traffickers shouted "Aya Aya come you!" and dragged migrants by the neck to the tyres, forcing them to scoop out wet sand with their bare hands.
After digging out the mud, the traffickers deflated the tyres to get better grip, pushed the vehicle out, and then inflated the tyres again with a small pumping machine.
About 30 minutes after they continued, the truck got stuck again. This time, the migrants were forced to push it hard while the traffickers recorded them on video and laughed. Soyombo said his gloves turned black from the mud and at one point, a trafficker collected Austin's socks to wipe his own legs.
At about 11:50am, they got to a village called Toret. There were only two local restaurants and no well to fetch water. Anyone who bought food was given water, but there was only one cup in each restaurant. Hundreds of migrants used the same cup to drink from a drum. Soyombo said he first hesitated but later had to drink from it because the journey ahead was uncertain.
The truck left Toret at 1:38pm and drove at dangerous speed until 5:39pm when they reached Emzig'ghar in Bilma, North-East Niger. There, he was able to buy internet access to contact his team.
They left Emzig'ghar at 7:21pm and drove all night without headlights to avoid being seen. Soyombo said drivers in the desert speed between 140km/h and 180km/h, and at night, there is the added danger of bandits. He said he stayed awake all night, holding tightly to the rope, because falling off the truck in the desert means death.
They arrived at Mite, a small settlement, at 12:17am on Saturday, June 13. The traffickers made them offload heavy sacks to reach the engine under the truck bed. It was during this task that the first resistance happened. A migrant named Samuel, who is a plumber and bricklayer, left the work to drink water. A trafficker slapped him. Samuel refused to be intimidated and confronted the trafficker, saying he would not work again if he was hit a second time. Other traffickers intervened.
They were woken at 2:40am to reload the sacks and left Mite at 3:51am. By 4:10am, the truck was stuck again in quicksand and they all had to push it for about 15 minutes.
They finally got to Lapei at 8:53am. There was a well, food, and internet service. There was also a signpost by the International Organisation for Migration, IOM, offering to help migrants who wanted to return home. Soyombo noted that between April 2017 and February 2022, IOM helped 19,452 Nigerians return from Libya, and 65,700 Nigerians in the last ten years.
In Lapei, he met Destiny, a young man from Benin, Edo State, who was on his way back to Nigeria after spending six months on the road. Destiny said he was kidnapped and taken to Chad, tortured, and forced to pay ransom. After regaining freedom, he was kidnapped again in al-Gatrun, Libya, and had to pay another ransom. He said he has now given up on Libya.
Destiny revealed that his elder sister had survived a similar trip years ago. She was on a boat with over 70 migrants heading to Italy and only two people survived the Mediterranean accident. She was one of them. She had warned him not to travel through the desert but he did not listen.
Soyombo said he was told the next part of the journey would be even more dangerous and that his phones could be seized anytime. Many traders in Lapei were already offering to buy migrants' phones at very low prices because they knew they would soon be confiscated.
CREDIT: This story is a simple summary of Part 2 of Fisayo Soyombo's undercover investigation titled 'Europe Through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea' published by Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).
Photo: 'Fisayo Soyombo / International Journalism Festival, licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
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