- Nigerian Stowaways Endure 2 Weeks on Cargo Ship
- Migrants Mistakenly Bound for Europe
- Harrowing Journey across 3,500 Miles to Brazil
The migrants, who were mere meters away from “large fish such as whales and sharks,” believed the ship was only bound for Europe.
Four Nigerian stowaways endured two weeks in a confined space above the rudder of a cargo ship as it traveled 3,500 nautical miles from Nigeria to Brazil.
Migrants’ initial relief after enduring a perilous voyage was quickly replaced by astonishment, as they believed the vessel would only travel to Europe.
The soldiers ran out of food and water on their ninth day but survived by sipping seawater from metres below.
Roman Ebimeme Friday said they saw “large fish such as whales and sharks” from the boat.
The 35-year-old man from the Nigerian state of Bayelsa added that the confined space and loud engine noise made it difficult and dangerous to sleep during the voyage.
Mr. Friday said the men roped themselves to a net around the rudder to avoid plunging into the lake.
We’ve trained ourselves not to make a commotion.
Mr. Friday stated that he began his voyage to Brazil on June 27 when a fisherman friend rowed him to the stern of the Liberian-flagged Ken Wave, which was docked in Lagos and left him by the rudder.
To his astonishment, three men were already waiting for the ship’s departure.
Mr. Friday had never met his new shipmates and feared that they could at any moment throw him overboard.
Mr. Friday reported that once the ship began to move, the four men made every effort not to be detected by the crew, who they feared might push them into the ocean.
“Perhaps if they capture you, they will toss you into the water,” he suggested.
Therefore, we instructed ourselves to never make noise.
In an interview at a church shelter in Sao Paulo, Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye, 38, one of the four Nigerians, stated, “It was a terrible experience for me.”
“At sea, things are not simple. I was trembling with fear. However, I’m present.”
Mr. Yeve and Mr. Friday have now submitted asylum applications in Brazil.
The remaining two prisoners were returned to Nigeria at their request.
After being rescued by police in the southeastern port of Vitoria, the men arrived in Brazil.
Mr. Friday said, “I pray that the government of Brazil will pity me.”
Their 5,600-kilometer (3,500-mile) ocean trip highlights the risks some migrants are willing to take for a better life.
Mr. Yeve and Mr. Friday said economic hardship, political instability, and crime forced them to leave Nigeria.
Mr. Yeye, a Pentecostal minister from Lagos state, reported that his peanut and palm oil property was wiped out by floods this year, rendering him and his family homeless.
He desires for them to join him in Brazil.
“I was extremely relieved when we were rescued,” he said.
The Sao Paulo shelter priest Father Paolo Parise had met stowaways before, but never after such a dangerous voyage.
He stated, “People do unfathomable and perilous things.” Their voyage showed how far people may go for a fresh start.
