Nigerians held in a deportation camp in Libya have raised the alarm over inhumane conditions, calling on the Nigerian government and private organisations for urgent intervention.

In a viral video, a middle-aged man narrated the ordeal of several Nigerians crammed into a holding facility reportedly run by a United Nations agency. He revealed that they have been confined in the camp for over seven months while awaiting deportation.

According to him, the number of detainees has dropped from about 700 to 400, with many allegedly dying due to maltreatment and poor living conditions. “People are dying almost every day,” he lamented.

The distressed detainees are pleading for swift rescue, describing the camp’s condition as unbearable and life-threatening.

He said, “These are Nigerians as you are watching this video, it is a clear picture of what we are passing through in Libya, today being the 5th of August. For over 7 months that we have been in this so-called deportation camp, dying in numbers, both children, adults and teenagers and women.

“When you take a close look at this video, it will explain the conditions that Nigerians are in, right here in Libya, in a place called Brakchat, 60 kilometres away from Sabh?. And as we are watching this video, it is at our own expense because we are restricted from the use of phones.

“You can see how Nigerians have been lying here for over 7 months. And this is how we keep lying, and we keep counting dead souls daily. Even as of yesterday, we lost a child and a teenager here because of maltreatment and the punishments we are going through here.

“Please, as you are watching this video, it is a wake-up call for Nigeria’s intervention over our situation right here. And the number of Nigerians here is approximately 400 in number, though we were up to 700 when we came here. But the death rate here has declined to about 400 in approximation.

“Please, we have to do this video as proof to Nigeria over what we are passing through here. If you watch this video, you will see some of us are bandaged. Some of us cannot even bring our hands down because of the casualties and injuries that we have sustained.

“Even the UN, which is in charge of this deportation process, has none of its officials here to oversee what Nigerians are passing through here. Since we came here, none of them have come here to monitor the welfare and the well-being of the people. Even to some extent, when they come, they don’t allow them to come and see what people are passing through.

“These are Nigerians with skills and graduates in numbers, people with futures, fathers, youth, vibrant youth. But this is the situation we find ourselves in. Please, Nigerians, help us, corporate bodies, and individuals.

“When you watch these videos, you will see so many people’s conditions, how deteriorating it is without medication for over seven months. People who travel in sound health, but they cannot access life or a good life because of malnourishment and treatment daily, including our women. Wherever you are, individuals, organisations and agencies, please, as you watch this video, under the risks.

“It is for an intervention to come and take us back to our country. We came here to serve them, to work for them. We did not come here to steal or kill.

“But on the contrary, they are treating us as if we have committed an offence. And on our day of arrival, they collected all our valuables, our international passports, our phones, our money and other valuables such that we cannot reach out to our people. But we cannot die here like this.

“Even if we die here, let our country know what is going on here and the war at large. That is why we are taking these risks to do this video. It will be on the 5th of August, 2025.” (The Nation)