Additional information Nigeria
Situation in Morocco
Nigeria is a federal state in West Africa. With over 200 million inhabitants (2018), it is by far the most populous country in Africa.
Nigeria borders the Atlantic Ocean and the countries of Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Capital of the country is Abuja. The former capital and economic center Lagos, with around 16 million inhabitants, is the second largest city in Africa.
Nigeria includes more than 250 ethnic groups and is a very prosperous country of natural resources, especially petroleum, oil and gas.
Nigeria experienced a strong recession. According to the Work Bank statistics, 83 million Nigerians live below the poverty line, plus 53 million of people live at a vulnerable level. The number of Nigerians living below the international poverty line is expected to rise.
The northeast of the Country is the main base of the islamistic Boko Haram, one of the world’s deadliest terror groups. It is infamous for its brutal actions and it killed tens of thousands of people, including government soldiers, police and civilians. The death of more than 300.000 children is a direct result of the activities of Boko Haram and 2.3 million people had to flee their homes. Famines and shortage of food are a direct result of Boko Haram’s insurgency.
Additionally, there are several armed groups trying to gain control of the oil-producing Niger Delta. Due to all these conflicts, more than 300.000 Nigerians have taken refuge in neighboring countries.
According to the OCHA reports, the main factors which push Nigerians to flee from their country are the following: violence,
insecurity and conflict (52%), personal or family reasons (46%), and rights and freedoms (38%).
There are random killings by both government and non-state actors, forced disappearances by the government, a variety of terrorists and criminal groups, cases of torture and physical and psychological punishments of civilians. There are low levels of freedom of expression and media and a high level of gender-based violence (including domestic violence, early forced marriage, female genital mutilation and child abuse).
As a consequence, many Nigerians try to flee and present a large proportion of irregular migrants reaching European shores via Libya.
- Refugee route
They cross the Mediterranean sea, facing the risk of sinking and drowning in makeshift boats. Migrants can also get trapped in locations in the middle of their journey. Without money, they are not able to continue or even come back to Nigeria. The journey via the Mediterranean sea from Libya to Europe costs around 3,000 US dollars per person. Nigerian women are often obligated to become prostitutes in order to pay back the money.
The UK is still the main destination for many Nigerian migrants, but many are also in countries like Italy.
Map of Nigeria (https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
Maps From Nigeria (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32421238)
Rescue activities in the Mediterranean Sea
