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 with THE NATION in Benin City, Obehi said he was kidnapped four times but he bailed himself out with 4000 dinars on each occasion but never contemplated going to Europe because work was good for him in Libya.
Obehi stated that 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.”
