Four Nigerian stowaways endured a harrowing ten-day voyage across the Atlantic in a tiny space above the rudder of a cargo ship, surviving on limited food and drink.
They managed to endure another four days by drinking sea water crashing just meters below them. Eventually, Brazilian federal police rescued them in the southeastern port of Vitoria, marking the end of their death-defying journey, covering around 5,600 kilometers (3,500 miles) of ocean. This incredible ordeal highlights the extreme risks some migrants are willing to take in their pursuit of a better life.
One of the stowaways, 38-year-old Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye, expressed the terror he felt during the journey but expressed relief at being rescued. The four men had originally hoped to reach Europe but were shocked to discover they had instead landed in Brazil.
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“Maybe if they catch you they will throw you in the water, so we taught ourselves never to make a noise.”
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While two of them chose to return to Nigeria, Yeye and Roman Ebimene Friday, a 35-year-old from Bayelsa state, applied for asylum in Brazil.
Both men cited economic hardship, political instability, and crime in Nigeria as the driving factors for their escape. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has been grappling with longstanding issues of violence, poverty, and kidnappings. Yeye, a pentecostal minister, revealed that his peanut and palm oil farm was devastated by floods, rendering his family homeless. He hopes to reunite them in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Friday’s journey began when a fisherman friend took him to the stern of the Liberian-flagged Ken Wave, where he found three others already waiting to depart. Fearful for his life, Friday remained cautious to avoid detection by the ship’s crew.
Surviving two weeks so close to the Atlantic Ocean proved perilous. To prevent falling into the water, the men constructed a makeshift net around the rudder and secured themselves with a rope. Sleep was scarce and risky due to the cramped space and noise from the ship’s engine. Despite the dangers, they persevered until their rescue.
Father Paolo Parise, a priest at the Sao Paulo shelter where the men are now residing, described this as the most perilous stowaway case he has come across. The journey reflects the lengths to which some individuals will go in search of a fresh start, even if it means undertaking unimaginable and deeply dangerous acts.
