Survivor recounts drinking urine to survive Libya desert ordeal

A 23‑year‑old woman who returned to Nigeria from Libya, Endurance Daniel, said she and other migrants drank their own urine to survive during a desert crossing, according to an interview with the Nigerian newspaper NAN.

Daniel told the paper that she had travelled with 52 other migrants in a single vehicle. She said that seven people died under harsh conditions during the journey.

She explained that she was lured to Libya at age 17 by promises of employment and better prospects. “We spent more than a month in the desert. There was no water; so we were drinking our urine to survive,” she said. “At a time, urine was no longer coming out. Some of us had blood coming out instead of urine.”

Daniel added that the bodies of those who died were left in the desert, and that the survivors watched them decay for days because there was nowhere else to go.

She said that a friend of her mother had convinced her family that life in Libya offered better prospects. “My mother’s friend told my mother that her children were there and doing well. She said I could work for less than a year and make good money,” she recalled.

The friend promised that after repaying the sponsor through domestic work, she would be free to pursue any occupation or business. “She told me that I could even open a shop after settling my sponsor,” Daniel said. “Things were difficult at home. My family was suffering, with no food to eat. So, I decided to go.”

Daniel arrived in Libya in 2019 but found that the reality differed sharply from the promises made before her departure. “On getting to Libya, my sponsor told me there were only two jobs available for women migrants, domestic work and prostitution. There was nothing else,” she recounted.

She tried to return home immediately, but the trafficker insisted she first repay the transportation expenses incurred during the journey. “When I asked for a phone to contact my family, he refused. He feared my family would send money for me to return to Nigeria,” she said.

According to Daniel, traffickers used threats, intimidation and exploitation to control migrants, forcing many into situations against their wishes. “He said that if we refused his instructions, he would sell us to places where people were forced into prostitution. We were frightened and decided to follow his instructions,” she said.

She also said that promises of communication with family were used as leverage to pressure vulnerable migrants into exploitative relationships. “I accepted because I desperately wanted to speak with my family. It had been months since I last heard from them,” she said.

Daniel described the harsh desert crossing experience, noting severe dehydration, hunger and the deaths of several migrants. “The surviving migrants were eventually moved to camps where they received inadequate food before being transferred to their sponsors,” she said. “They gave us plain spaghetti without salt or anything else. We ate it because we had no choice.”

She said that migrants were often concealed in vehicles and transported secretly to avoid detection by security authorities and immigration officials. “If they found you during inspections, you could end up in prison. If they did not, you were considered lucky,” she added.

Daniel expressed gratitude for the opportunity to return home and urged young Nigerians to verify migration opportunities carefully before embarking on dangerous journeys. “People should not believe everything they are told. What I experienced was completely different from the promises made before I left,” she concluded.

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