Meet Emmanuel
Emmanuel (Nigeria) in Viterbo, Italy. 1 December 2017. ©Pamela Kerpius/Migrants of the Mediterranean
by:
Pamela Kerpius
Recorded:
1 December 2017
Published:
January 2018
Revised:
1/12/25
Meet Emmanuel.
24 years old and from Benin City, Nigeria.
To reach Italy he crossed three countries: Nigeria, Niger, and the most dangerous of all, Libya.
His journey took over a year, leaving Nigeria on 19 March 2016.
Emmanuel crossed the Sahara desert, then entered Libya where he experienced severe human rights abuses. He was captured and held in prison for seven months. The space was a large hall with 26 partitions. In each section there were a minimum of 100 people.
“In prison, he said, ‘You cry, you pray to God.’ ”
His friend, Steven (26, Nigeria), was traveling with him but died in prison on 11 December 2016 from causes unknown. In prison, “You cry, you pray to God,” Emmanuel said, “We are just there,” referring to his diminished existence.
On 3 March 2017 he escaped at 4:00 a.m., falling and dislocating his leg. He could not walk and slept in the desert for two nights.
He was barefoot when he made it to Tripoli, still limping, where he stayed in a destroyed building in a dangerous area of the city. There was a police presence. He was still holding his friends’ hands to walk, but finally made it to Sabratha, Libya, the seaside camp near Tripoli.
Emmanuel crossed the Mediterranean Sea in a rubber dinghy, was rescued, and landed in Lampedusa on 7 May 2017. There, he met his friends, Charles and Jeffrey (both Nigeria) after being processed at the Lampedusa hotspot.
His story is brief since we met in passing during a meeting with Charles in Viterbo, Italy, where they both live in state housing, and where we recorded this story on 1 December 2017.
Emmanuel is an amazing human being.