In an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, Olaniyi recounted the trauma she endured while trying to escape poverty after her husband’s death.
A 32-year-old Nigerian widow, Titilopeyemi Olaniyi, has shared her harrowing story of how a promised journey to Europe turned into five months in a Libyan prison.
In an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, Olaniyi recounted the trauma she endured while trying to escape poverty after her husband’s death.
“I decided to travel because I wanted to support myself. After my husband died, there was no support, and taking care of the two young children as a widow was difficult. I felt I would get a good job if I left the country and went to a different country,” she said. “My broker promised to take me to Europe, but she took me to Libya instead.”
Olaniyi, from Ibadan, Oyo State, embarked on the risky road trip to Libya in 2023. “It was a hectic and uncomfortable journey. There was little or no food, and many people died along the way,” she said. “We travelled in a pick-up truck, and there was not enough space for someone to sit. Not everyone made it to the last stop. I remember one guy fell from the vehicle while we were moving because there was not enough space for him to sit comfortably.”
“Not everyone made it to the last stop. I remember calling the names of my children and my husband while crying several times,” she added.
After arriving in Libya, Olaniyi was forced to work as a maid for a year to pay off her broker.
“After suffering on the road for two weeks, I entered another phase of suffering because the lady who took me in, Bola, made sure I paid her all the money I owed before she set me free. She took me to work as a maid for a year in an Arab man’s house, and even when I fell sick, it was the Arab man who took me to the hospital for treatment,” she said.
“I even had an injury on my leg that had to be stitched, but she did not care. I was never given any money by the Arab while I worked with him. Some of the brokers who accommodate people in Libya usually leave them to fend for themselves after the debt is paid in full.”
“I was clothed and fed by the Arab man for the whole year. I never set eyes on Bola again, even after I completed the payment of my debt,” she recounted.
In a cruel twist, she was later arrested and imprisoned for five months despite committing no crime.
“One day, I came back from work, but I was not aware that my neighbour had fought with someone in the afternoon, and one of the Arabs around had called the police that some Nigerians were fighting. By the time I got home, the policemen were alerted to my arrival, and that was how I was arrested without committing any crime,” she said.
“I spent five months in prison before I was deported back to Nigeria. Sometimes, the police would just raid an apartment occupied by Nigerians, pack all the money they could find, and throw them in prison for no just cause.”
Olaniyi said she was arrested on July 27, 2024, and deported on January 28, 2025.
“I can never forget the day I was arrested,” she said.
She described the conditions in prison as horrific. “The food was bad; they gave us half-done rice in the morning without soup or salt. Some women who came into the prison pregnant died during labour because of the poor food and lack of healthcare services,” she recalled.
The widow said the experience has left her physically and emotionally scarred.
“It was an awful experience. When I first arrived in Nigeria, I was vomiting and purging for a while because I was malnourished,” she said.
Olaniyi’s story highlights the plight of many Nigerians, who, driven by desperation, risk their lives in search of better opportunities abroad.
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