16th January, 2018
Oyo State Government on Monday in Ibadan received 11 natives of the state rescued from Libya by the Federal Government.
The returnees were received by the Deputy Governor, Chief Moses Adeyemo at the governor’s office, Ibadan. They comprise of six females and five males and were brought by Mr. Akin Makinde, Executive Secretary of the Oyo State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The returnees were brought into the country through Port Harcourt in Rivers, from where they were transported to Ibadan.
Adeyemo stated that the state government has taken it upon itself to make sure that all indigenes of the state are brought to the government secretariat and later reunited with their families.
“The most important thing for all of us nowadays, particularly parents is to make sure that our children learn something apart from their academic qualifications.
“This is why entrepreneurship has been introduced in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“Our youths should learn something apart from looking for white-collar jobs. No government can employ everybody,’’ he said.
Makinde told newsmen that Gov. Abiola Ajimobi has charged the agency to look at what could be done for the returnees and we will work on it very quickly.
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One of the returnees, who identified himself as Oluwatobi, claimed that he holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accounting from The Polytechnic, Ibadan.
He said that he had paid N430, 000 for him to travel to Europe through Libya after his four-month contract with a commercial bank in Nigeria was not renewed.
Recounting his bitter experiences in the desert, particularly how he survived when the boat he boarded capsized and had to swim to the bank of the river.
Oluwatobi, who left Nigeria in April 2017, said that he landed in prison the following month and spent nine months in Libya prison before he was rescued.
He said he has not jettisoned his ambition to travel out of the country, but next time he would go to one of the Western countries through legitimate means.
Other returnees when asked to share their experiences for others to learn refused to grant interview to journalists.
Another eight returnees from Libya, who hailed from the state, had arrived Port Harcourt on Sunday.