 For a lot of people, the Nigerian dream is to leave the country unto greener pastures. But the irony is the treacherous experiences they have to face to get to these so-called greener pastures. Just like the stories of Azu and many who were tricked into what they thought was a better life. In fact, it turns out to be the worst experience they never dreamt of. Before I left Nigeria, I was doing a business. I was selling food with my mom in a particular oil company. And also I was a teacher. So I was doing the two together, assisting mom in the shop and also teaching in a school. So once school closes in the morning before leaving, I help out with cooking, putting things together, buying the drinks, arranging everywhere. Then I go to work and then when I come back, I continue. But before then, I was in school. I was supposed to graduate. I studied architecture in the good state of the University of Science and Technology. So in my finals, that was 2014, I found out that I had a lot of issues. It actually started when I got into school. I got into school 2010. So it was 2009 to 2010 set. So when we got into school, school fee was increased from $72,000 to $102,000. So from that $102,000, it was very difficult for me to get my school fee, the way I was supposed to get it. Like the first school fee was easy, but then subsequently it became really hard for my dad to put it together. So I paid my fees late. Now ASU had this policy that if you pay your school fee, you get exam number. So almost all my exams from the second year to final year were written without exam number. So during the time they were publishing, because what they do is in the final exams, they will write out all your outstanding results. You look for them, either go to the lecturers and look for them and then at the end of the day, the ones you can't find, you will write. So I saw about 29. I started moving around, going to lecturers. It was as if they were signing in and out, no recording. Signing in and out, no recording. So the whole thing got so complicated that it was just something I couldn't take. Well, I wasn't patient enough to go to as many lecturers as I could, but getting from my head of department just told me this is the much we can do, searching for all of this because even his own course then, he was taking construction methods, even his own course then was not recorded. So he just told me if my own course is not recorded, it means every other one you've written wasn't also recorded. So I assumed that was it. Getting home that day, I cried a lot. I called home, I told my dad he was like, be patient. Just try and see if you can look for them. I just quietly packed my bags. Without differing the admission, without doing anything, I just packed my bags and I left. After everything, then I started this teaching and then I joined mom. I met someone who was really interested in me and he told me he wants to get married. I just felt like okay, you can handle this, you can get married and all of that. So in the long run, I got pregnant and I think that was what ended the relationship because he insisted get rid of the pregnancy. I was pretty sick, I was very sick so I think he couldn't handle the stress and all of that he said get rid of the pregnancy. In my family, you don't do that and that was my very first pregnancy so everyone was like, you're not there. I gave birth to this baby. So four months down the line, that was 2017, I gave birth to 2017 in March. Four months down the line, family got a call that the people are abroad who need four people. So they are like extended family relations. They are not really very close to us. I don't even know them. I've never met them but some of my cousins have so those ones that have are the ones that were contacted. And then I didn't even have an idea because my baby was just very tender about four months after. So they started talking about it. I was hearing more and more calls constantly. They were talking about they need someone who she should see if I can agree. My younger sister was still in school. She was in her, I think in her second year or so. So since I was the only one who is out of school they can't talk to my younger brother about that because he also is in school. So since I was the only one who was out of school every eye was on me despite the fact that I just had a baby. So my mom talked to me, I said no. And then the idea was my baby is still tender. I can't travel with my baby and walk. So she said my mom is very young. So she said she will take care of the baby for me to travel. Mom said this is more like an opportunity for you to do everything you want to do. You want to go to school. You can walk there, go to school and do everything. So that was everyone's idea except my dad, my younger sister and I. No one talked to my younger brother about it because he was not around, he was in our children. So I think we were standing alone. All my aunties were my mom. So one of them invited me over. That night she sat me down, you know. You're walking really hard. You go to farm because when I gave birth to my baby I was now trying very hard to see that there's no lapses in the family. We all hands on deck kind of. Let everyone walk hard to make sure that everything is going well. So you walk really hard. So for me, this is like an opportunity. And then she had her son that just left to Ghana. I don't know what was going on with the guy at that time. So I didn't really ask if he was doing well. But for me, everyone believes he's doing well. So this opportunity is true for me. You have to. So when she explained everything and told me you need to really try this out because this is like an option that would help you to stop the suffering. You're going to farm. You're doing a lot of things. Just try this option. That night was the night I now decided okay, since everyone is saying they will take care of my son. They told us friends. The three of us, three ladies. And then the guy, Italy. They are my cousins as well. So two ladies plus me. That's three. Then the guy, because they said three ladies and a guy. Then the guy was to stop at Italy. It's not like the guy is joining us to France. So that was it. We left. Okay, there was no plan. No process. That's the truth. There was no process. They just told me pack your bags. Meet us in Benin. So I packed my bags. And then while packing your bags make sure you have like two, three trousers. Make sure you have like a sweater. It take one because it's really cold over there in Europe. Make sure you have... They just told us a few things that they felt was necessary that we should have with us. So those were the things I put together and then I got myself a backpack. I made sure I bought enough food for my son. Someone I initially planned I was going to do exclusive breastfeeding for. I had to cut short at four months just to join them. So we got to Benin. Spent about two days there preparing. No serious preparation. They were just telling us they are preparing the documents. Everything will get all of them in Abuja. Won't get Abuja. That the people over there, they are the ones who would give us the necessary requirements. So it was just like we just came there for brief information and then we left. We got to Karnu, past the night in Karnu. But before Karnu was when I started suspecting that something is not really going on right. We're trying to enter the north then. Some of these NDLEA, this drug enforcement agency, they saw us and the man was like, everyone in this was calm down, walking down. I even felt maybe they wanted to start the guys. But funny enough, they took all bags. It was more like they took the young people's bags and then they kept it in one place. They would open it and add them. I'm not telling you, they sent out them. I'm like, I don't have anything in my bag. So I was getting really scared. But the guy with us was like calm down, nothing is going on. They just want to check and he already had an idea of what was going on. So when they checked, they asked every one of us to pay to 2,000. So the other girl, I don't know her, who just met in the bus, was putting on this long dress. Isidia Lamia, they call it, something like that. That was what she was putting on. And then she was just saying a lot of things. Not be troubled, they travel, not be troubled at the travel and not commit any crime. You know, she was saying a lot of things and she wasn't even using any polite language like talking to officers. I beg you, make nobody disturb you. Now travel, she they travel. You know, being in a sense. So I was like, travel, they travel. We are going to the same direction or something. So I started suspecting. I said then that I don't really know what these guys are talking about. But at the end of the day, the guy paid. He paid for all of us, the four of us, 8,000. And then we left. So they took 2,000 from each person and they allowed us leave. We moved on, we got to Abuja. We passed the night there. There was no response, nobody brought documents. They said the documents, the person said we should keep coming when we get so we can get it. So we got to Khan actually. Someone came to pick us. The guy that came to pick us was driving with one hand. He doesn't have one hand. I was scared, like. But before he started driving, as soon as he just said, quick, quick, quick, enter. Every one of us jumped inside the car. The next thing he started giving us this stop is he jumped. Yeah, that jab for everyone. So I didn't know how to wear it. Everybody was like, okay. So it was funny, kind of. I was like, is this like what they do in the north? Is it compulsory? Even Christians will have to wear this. So then my brother was like, you ask a lot of questions. Just to wear it, we had to. So we moved on, we got somewhere. It was kind of a bushy environment. The guy stopped. They brought another car that took us to a particular enclosed area. And then that was where we were for a while. Then after a while, a bike came by, carried us from there to one place. I can't even tell. The people on the streets were doing I don't know what was going on. It was funny, but not funny. Because the bike guys were not even riding normal. They were riding and jumping. In fact, these things that we see in movies that like James Bond something, it happens in Nigeria. I'm like, what's going on here? The guys were not careful. I had to hold the bike man so that I don't fall off. And someone was behind me, but I was still not comfortable to tell you how rough those guys were. So we got to another place. Then I saw a lot of Nigerians. I saw a lot of people who were traveling actually. So they were saying different things. Everyone with their own idea about where they are going to. And then I met this lady. She wasn't looking very okay. But she said the person who asked her to come is her sister. And that's because I think she's educated but she has this health issues that the person said as soon as she gets to Italy they will come pick her up and then she will get her treatment. So people had different reasons why they were traveling. The ones I met there actually everyone had different reasons. Some for medical attention. Some for money. Some who were promised jobs. So I felt kind of... I felt unhappy at first. And then I was saying some things and then one guy came to me and said, see, if you talk too much most of these people that are around here they will lock you up here and then everybody will go. You will not go because you're asking a lot of questions. So that calmed me kind of. I had to like stop asking questions. So after a while they came to Passports as a passport photograph of everyone and it was that guy's idea of not talking that made me not to ask anything. A few hours later they came with passports. The passport that got to me had my picture, not my name and every other detail on it wasn't me. So when they gave me the passport I had to memorize everything on the passport. You are compelled to, you don't have a choice because that's like your gateway to wherever you're supposed to go to. So we took these things. A few minutes later the bike guys came back. They took all of us again. You know the person you entered with before just entered with the person and then we moved on. So we continued to go to the border between Nigeria, I don't know if it's Niger or Nigeria I don't know. So the immigration officers there they would take your passport and ask you what's your name? You tell them your name. How would you tell them? They just check. They give you back to you. So it wasn't like they were doing any critical check. That question was the only thing they asked me. I don't know if they asked others or any other thing but that was what they asked me and that was a pass for me because as soon as I said my name and then I skipped the part where I had to teach one of my sisters because she is not learned. She got married when she was in primary six so she didn't go to school and she has been in the village all her life. So I had to like teach her her name, the name on the distance. So I was helping her memorize her own name as well as memorizing mine. So it was something very silly that of course if I had a clue about irregular migration or human trafficking I would have at least known that I was getting into something stupid, something that wouldn't be good for me. And then we left. The bike guys took us to a certain place where they had buses. They put a lot of us in one bus. I had to sit in the boot. So in that boot it was raining that evening. It was let's say around eight before the bus left. So it was raining. The rain drop was on my body. That's why the fact I didn't have enough clothes on I was cold. I was shivering. And it's not like when you're shivering somebody else would help you because everyone is actually trying to save themselves. So no one is actually looking out for you. So you have to do something to help yourself. So I had to like draw. There is something they used to cover the bus. I had to like draw that thing to cover myself. So we moved on after a while. I think they heard police, police. The next thing the drivers drove to a certain place Paktika, zoomed off. We didn't know where they went to after a while. Other cars came if they call your connection you join another vehicle. If they call your connection you join another vehicle just like that they just shared us into different groups we left. Spent about a day plus on the road. So we got to Agades. Now when we got to Agades someone just told us that this is Agades. I said yeah, Agades. I met some people and then the first room where they took us to everywhere was filled with flies. I couldn't take it so I was like oh god what is this? Those girls that they started laughing they were laughing. I was like how are you guys comfortable in this kind of environment? They said you never see anything. They stood up, left the room, came back they were still laughing. I was like no, my sister told me that you should just try and keep quiet and just observe rather than say your feelings as if you're just showing them who you are. I just kept quiet. I was not enduring the whole thing. They fly everywhere. I sat in the corner I was just reflecting over the journey from Nigeria to that point. A few days about four days later so that should be like okay that's like four days, four to five days now to get to that because it was from Binin to Kano itself was a day till the next morning. So from that to that Agades in Niger was about okay let's just say three days. Okay so from that point to that night they didn't actually move us. We're still there still about four days and then on the fourth day they came they told us okay to get ready everybody get ready you'll be leaving this night people were excited me I wasn't really excited because I didn't really understand we are leaving like we are leaving to where so my brothers like they said we are going to buy Galon buy Galon we don't have money we didn't even they gave us just 10,000 naira one we're leaving each so we don't have money how much is the Galon they said they are selling in Sefa it's not Naira because we are not in Nigeria I said okay find out how much it is at the end of the day the one we had left with us was unable to buy us Galon because we were buying small ones big ones, small ones for each person so at the end of the day we sold the only phone that was with us and the phone was not in our possession it wasn't in my possession or in the girl's possession it was only the guy that was authorized to use the phone to update them so it was more like they were working with the guy these people carrying us were working with the guy I've never met the guy before he's not really my cousin he's married to one of our cousins so I don't even know him now it's more like they've already had this whole thing planned out before calling on us to come and join the guy so the guy said he's going to sell the phone when we get to Libya he will get another phone I wasn't worried initially they just get us water since they said everybody will need water we didn't bother to ask what do we need the water for since they said buy just buy he bought the gallon they filled it with water so we had to carry it to the place where they were loading that night so in the night they started loading I noticed each he lost us carrying about 29 people for my hillocks they had about 29 people so now the guys the ladies will sit in the guys will sit around the hillocks so they have this wood that the guys will use to sit and then they were arranging it like that till they got to our own turn now for the girls you sit, you open your legs someone else sits just like that that was the arrangement then for me I had to sit around the what's it called where you can rest your back but I was sitting on a keg of fuel that's another story I was sitting on a keg of fuel so for me I felt that was a comfortable place I put my bag on the keg of fuel and then I sat on it so I was feeling like that's more comfortable I was able to say the other people sitting inside the hillocks would be feeling hot and they would be having a lot of challenges so I don't want to stay there I prefer where I was now within one day from that place because all the hillocks moved at the same time like all the vehicles moved at once they started going towards Asif the more we went in if they drive from one would I even stay up to a pole the vehicle would sink all the guys would come down the lighter ladies would stay inside if you're heavy you come down the guys would have to remove the sand the hillocks would move to the front we would all jump in again the hillocks would move get just one pole again this thing continued for the whole day it was tiring and so once in a while they were beating the guys like when it's time to pack this sand if they don't see your hand doing it the drivers have this whip this pipe that you used to remove to put fuel in their vehicle was what they were using to whip the guys like at some point I started crying because there was this guy that looked really soft I don't think he's from middle state I can't remember where he's from but at some point he broke down like he was like which can I suffer with this which can I suffer with this they were beating them in such a way that ordinarily it was heart breaking that after that whole day in the night they parted somewhere and then I met someone from my place from another hillocks the guys started telling me stories we were just gistening and then it was more like a few hours let's say it was getting to like midnight this kind of breeze just started blowing towards us and then bringing sand it was then he dawned on me that most of the sand heaping was actually done by that breeze it was like rain very scary I just saw the guy is this thing going to bury us he smiled and said if you bury us now it's just like we are trying to make it in life and then we do not survive I was like God don't allow me to die here that was the first fear so the guy said just lie down and use something to cover yourself probably you sleep off because I didn't see sleep most people were already sleeping but I could not imagine myself sleeping in that kind of environment I didn't know there was more waiting for us ahead so after that night the next morning the drivers came I took my brush I want to brush my teeth they said wait a minute I want to brush one guy said with which water this water that we are reserving we want to drink they said I am not going to brush they guys said even by brush they were laughing you know some kind of weird behaviour from some of the guys and the ladies they were laughing I better go reserve the water I said hey God so I am not going to brush my mouth I can't even wash my face the guy said you know even brush with a wash face you know they were just saying a lot of things and then the driver didn't even wait for anyone to brush so we had to jump in that was the first hard break for me like okay now I am going to just be smelling the dead sea till we get to our destination and who knows how long this journey is