A 27-year old Libya deportee, Obehi Diamond, has described Libya as the
best country where a young man can work and earn good money if there was
a central government in the country.
Obehi said he lost all his earnings and savings in Libya because there was no way he could send money back to Nigeria.
He
said he was tricked to Libya by a lady he gave N520,000 to take him to
Europe in 2011 by flight but the woman abandoned him in Libya.
Speaking to The Nation
in Benin City, Obehi said he would not attend any training organised by
the Edo State Government because he was already a professional.
He
said the N20,000 monthly stipend Governor Godwin Obaseki promised to
pay Libya deportees was not what many of them need but good tools to
start life again.
His words,
“I left Nigeria in 2012. I paid money for flight but the women betrayed
me and took me through land to Libya. I paid her N520,000 in 2011. She
kept on promising me that I will soon leave. She later asked me to go to
Libya that there was somebody to receive me until I will leave for
Europe. When I got to Libya, Richard told me I could not travel by air
because there is on government in Libya.
“I started working in Libya
and earning 1,500dinars every month but Richard was collecting 1000
dinars every month from the money. He kept collecting money from me for
four months.
“I later told him that I cannot be working and he will
be collecting the money. Richard told my boss to stop paying me. He told
me to leave his house and I started sleeping in the street inside
abandoned vehicles. I later met a boy who took me to his house in a
mechanic workshop. I got a job somewhere and was earning 2000 dinars.
From there I was sending money to my parents in Nigeria to take care off
themselves. My friend found a job for me in Tripoli and I was working
well.
“In 2014, I was going to take measurement for a job, policemen
stop the vehicle I was in. I was the only black inside. After
interrogation, they tore my papers. I spent eight months in four
different prisons. I got a phone to call my friend and he told me to
look for a policeman to bail me out. In Libya, there is no lawyer to
bail you. A policeman helped me out and I paid him 120,000 dinars. I
started working again in Tripoli till 2016 when fight started. I found
another place to work in downtown due to fighting in Tripoli. After a
month, I asked my boss to calculate the money and it was 4000 dinars. He
wanted it pay me 600 dinars and I refused. I stopped the work because I
am a professional. I could get work easily because people used to call
me for work. The man pursued me and said I must work for him. He took
thugs to pursue me and for my safety I decided to work for 600 dinars.“When
I was arrested in Tripoli, I spent 15 months in prison before I was
deported. I was not planning to go to Europe. In Libya, there is work.
Libya is the best country in aspect of money and work. There is no
country to compare to Libya. The problem is the lack of government.
Libya is the best place for a young man to work and survive. There is
money in Libya if you are a good workman. There is future in Libya for
those that are not lazy.
“Since 2015, there was no means to send
money home. Libyans know that we blacks do keep money at home. When they
caught me, they went to my house to collect my money. They took my
property. I lost everything. They took huge money from me. If I had come
home with that money, I would not have depend on government to help me,
I will just open my shop immediately.
“If the state government help
me to open my shop, I will not think of traveling again. The pattern of
aluminum work in Libya is different so I had to learn from an Egyptian.
“There
is nobody that go to Libya that does not have skills except the Benin
boys. The Benin boys are lazy. I don’t play with my work when I was in
Libya even on Fridays.
“The training from Obaseki is out of point. I
don’t want to under go any training here in Edo. If I have my money, I
will go to Lagos and start working immediately. I cannot collect N20,000
monthly from Obaseki. That is no money. That is what I work in Libya in
two days. I don’t need any training. What I need is money to start off.
My fiancée is still in prison in Libya. I am expecting her to be
brought back soon.”