Sao Paulo
\nBrazilian federal police rescued four Nigerian stowaways who survived four days stuck in a cramped area above a cargo ship\u2019s rudder by drinking the seawater that crashed just metres below them while travelling across the Atlantic.
\nThe four men covered about 5,600 kilometres (3,500 miles) of the ocean on a life-threatening voyage that also highlights the risks some migrants are willing to take in exchange for a chance at a better life.
\n\u201cIt was a terrible experience for me,\u201d said 38-year-old Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye, one of the four Nigerians, in an interview at a Sao Paulo church shelter. \u201cOn board, it is not easy. I was shaking, so scared. But I\u2019m here.\u201d
\nTheir surprise at being saved quickly gave way to relief.
\nAccording to Reuters, the four men claimed they had wanted to travel to Europe and were astounded to discover they had really arrived in Brazil, on the other side of the Atlantic.
\nSince then, two of the men have returned to Nigeria while Yeye and Roman Ebimene Friday, a 35-year-old from Bayelsa state have requested refuge in Brazil.
\n\u201cI pray the government of Brazil will have pity on me,\u201d said Friday, who had already attempted to flee Nigeria by ship once before but was arrested by authorities there.
\nBoth men abandoned Nigeria, Africa\u2019s most populous country, due to economic hardship, political instability, and crime, citing the country\u2019s long-standing violence, poverty, and endemic kidnappings
\nYeye, a Pentecostal minister from Lagos state, lost his peanut and palm oil farm to floods, leaving him and his family homeless. He hopes that his family can join him in Brazil.
\nMeanwhile, Friday set out for Brazil on June 27 and was rowed up to the stern of the Liberian-flagged Ken Wave in Lagos by a fisherman friend who left him by the rudder.
\nHe was surprised to find three men waiting for the ship to depart and was terrified as he had never met those people before and feared they could toss him into the sea.
\nWhen the ship started to move, the four guys, according to Friday, made every attempt to avoid being seen by the crew, who they also feared may provide them with a watery grave.
\n\u201cMaybe if they catch you they will throw you in the water,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we taught ourselves never to make a noise.\u201d
\nTwo weeks in close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean was dangerous.
\nTo avoid falling, men rigged a net around their rudder and tied themselves with rope. They saw \u201cbig fish like whales and sharks,\u201d and sleep was rare due to cramped conditions and engine noise.
\n\u201cI was very happy when we got rescued,\u201d Friday said.
\nFather Paolo Parise, a priest at the Sao Paulo shelter, praised the dangerous case of stowaways and the lengths people go to for a new start. He attributed the journey to the unimaginable and deeply dangerous things people do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sao Paulo Brazilian federal police rescued four Nigerian stowaways who survived four days stuck in a cramped area above a cargo ship\u2019s rudder by drinking the seawater that crashed just metres below them while travelling across the Atlantic. The four men covered about 5,600 kilometres (3,500 miles) of the ocean on a life-threatening voyage that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-346729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n