“I was released from prison” – Heartbreaking Story of a young Osun mother deported from Libya

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On Saturday, July 12, 2025, The Punch reported that Victoria Abosede, a 28-year-old mother of two from Osun State, had returned home with a tale of betrayal, adversity, and profound remorse following months of suffering, loss, and surviving in unthinkable circumstances. She describes how trauma, incarceration, and deportation marked the end of a journey she had hoped would lead to a brighter future.

Grief and desperation led her to decide to leave Nigeria. Victoria lost one of her daughters to sickness after she and her husband separated because he ignored their kids. She was grieving and under financial difficulty when she was enticed by the prospect of high wages elsewhere. Through her aunt, she was introduced to an agent who informed her that Libya provided rich domestic labor.

However, the trip that started on January 12, 2024, was not at all what she had anticipated.

She and other migrants faced death, hunger, and weariness for more than a month while being crammed into the back of vehicles like cargo. They drank from gasoline containers and subsisted on dry garri in the desert between Niger and Libya. She once had to share muddy ponds with donkeys and camels in order to survive.

Victoria was given unknown drug injections and medical treatment upon arriving in Libya before being given a domestic job. Months of forced labor in three separate Arab houses ensued. She suffered from malnutrition, lack of sleep, and verbal abuse. After being promised a basic cleaning job, she ended up working every day from 9 a.m. until 2 a.m. daily – cleaning, laundry, and kid care that she wasn’t paid to do.

She was frequently threatened with being sold to another handler if she complained by her agent, who collected her wages. When the police arrested her for not having a passport, she persevered and almost paid off her obligation.

She suffered more than four months in cramped, cruel cells after being moved between holding sites and ultimately imprisoned in Tripoli.

She detailed the appalling conditions within the prison, including children dying, pregnant women left unattended, sick convicts disregarded, and almost any food or water. She was never permitted to contact Nigerian authorities or receive legal assistance. Despite their visit, the embassy offered no clothing, food, or medical assistance.

After eventually registering for deportation in February 2025, Victoria was freed on March 18 and joined more than 150 other Nigerians in Lagos.

She said, “I was released from prison on March 18, 2025 — the same day we were brought back to Nigeria.”

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