Hope for Europe, Illegal Nigerian Immigrants Saved by Brazilian Police: Risking Their Lives at the Steering of a Boat as they Cross the Atlantic

Illustration of the Brazilian federal police. (Twitter/@policiafederal)

JAKARTA - Four illegal immigrants were rescued by Brazilian federal police when they ran out of food and drink, after taking a risky journey across the Atlantic Ocean by hiding at the wheel of a ship, several meters above sea water.

Surviving 14 days in the cramped quarters above the helm of the ship while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they ran out of food and water by their tenth day at sea.

According to accounts by the four, they survived for four days by drinking seawater that crashed several meters below them, before being rescued by Brazilian federal police in the southeastern port of Vitoria.

Not an easy and short journey, with a distance of 5,600 kilometers, crossing the ferocious Atlantic Ocean to get a better life.

"This was a terrible experience for me," said Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye (38), one of the illegal immigrants from Nigeria who was rescued in an interview at a Sao Paulo church, reported by Reuters, August 2.

"On the boat it's not easy. I'm shaking, so scared. But I'm here," he continued.

Their relief at being rescued was soon replaced by shock.

The four said they actually hoped to reach Europe. However, they were surprised when they found out that they had landed on the other side of the Atlantic, in Brazil, which is in the Americas.

Yeye, a pentecostal pastor from Lagos state, said his peanut and oil palm plantations were destroyed by flooding this year, leaving him and his family homeless. He hopes they can join him in Brazil.

Two of the four immigrants have been returned to Nigeria at their request. Meanwhile, Yeye and Roman Ebimene Friday (35) from Bayelsa State, have applied for asylum in Brazil.

"I pray that the Brazilian government has mercy on me," said Friday, who had tried to flee Nigeria by boat before but was caught by authorities there.

Friday said his journey to Brazil began on June 27, when a fishing friend drove him to the stern of the Liberian-flagged Ken Wave, docked in Lagos and left him at the helm.

To his surprise, he found three people already there, waiting for the ship to leave. Friday admitted that he was very scared. He had never met his new shipmates, fearing they might throw him overboard at any moment.

As the ship began to move, Friday said the four men were trying hard not to be spotted by the crew, which they feared would become a watery grave for them.

"Maybe if they catch you they will throw you into the water," he said.

"So we learned not to make a fuss," he said.

It is well known that spending two weeks over long distances across the Atlantic Ocean is extremely dangerous.

To prevent themselves from falling into the water, Friday said they put a net around the wheel and tied themselves with ropes. Looking down, he said he could see "big fish like whales and sharks."

Due to the cramped conditions and loud engine noise, even sleep is rare and risky. "I was very happy when we were rescued," he said.

Separately, Father Paolo Parise, a priest at the Sao Paulo shelter, said he had come across cases of other stowaways, but never one so dangerous as the four.

Their journey is testament to how far people will go in search of a new beginning, he said.

"People are doing unimaginable and very dangerous things," he said in short.