Libya returnees reject Edo Govt’s N1000 transport fare

Some Libya returnees on Wednesday in Benin rejected the N1,000 transport fare given them by the Edo State Government to take them to their hometowns.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the returnees had on Tuesday protested the non-payment of stipend as transport fare to their homes within the state.

The returnees said that they had expected something reasonable without stating the amount.

One of the returnees, Gabriel Edokpaigbe, said it would be a shame for him to go back to his father’s house after he sold all his belongings to travel to Europe.

He said the N1,000 would not take him to his destination.

Christian Otoide, who claimed to be based in Lagos State, said he was still wearing the prison uniforms given to him in Libya because he had no other clothes.

Mr. Otoide said that returnees were promised many things in Libya hence he agreed to return home, adding that he is disappointed.

“How will N1,000 take me to Lagos? We were working in Libya but Libya police said our government said our country is now good. That was why I returned,” he said.

The returnees claimed that announcement by the federal government that Nigerians should return home made Libya policemen to arrest those living comfortably in the country. Many said they lost their money to the forceful arrest and deportation.

Efosa Clifford, 43, said he spent over N1.3 million on his failed trip to Europe.

He said: “If there was good liberty in Libya, life is good there, it is just that blacks have no free movement in Libya.”

Meanwhile, relatives of some of the returnees have stormed the premises of the Benin Motel Plaza where the returnees are lodged to find their lost ones.

Those looking for their relatives peeped through the fence to look for their loved ones.

A woman who gave her name as Boss said she was looking for her brother named Aminu, adding that she last heard from him in September 2016.

Another man said he had visited the hotel each time he heard Nigerians had returned from Libya to search for his daughter but to no avail.

- NAN