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They found ❤️ In a Hopeless Place! Nigerians fall in Love while Stranded in Libya
Henry Stevens, Mabel Emmanuel & their 3-month-old son (Photo by Fridah Okutoyi/CNN)
Mabel Emmanuel and Henry Stevens found love in the unlikeliest of places – while stranded in Libya, Stephanie Busari writes for CNN.
It’s a silver lining in what is otherwise a terribly dark cloud: Mabel had been kidnapped in Libya while attempting the cross the Mediterranean Sea over to Europe.
Unable to pay her ransom, she met Henry, she said, and he bailed her out, buying her freedom.
The two fell in love, and now they have a 3-month-old son together. She told CNN:
They kidnapped me in a place called Sabha, that’s when I met my husband. He bailed me out, it was last year and we fell in love.I found out I was pregnant in March this year and I gave birth to my baby in August. I gave birth to my baby in prison, with tears. Even though I was pregnant, they were still beating and maltreating me. But I give God the praise that I’m still alive today and I have my baby and my husband now.
With so many others still stranded in Libya, the Federal Government has said it’s working hard to bring Nigerians back.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, told CNN that with the public outcry, the Federal Government is working at a faster pace to bring nationals back. She said:
With the outcry, they are going at a faster pace. As the week goes by, the number of planes will increase.
There are stranded African migrants in detention centers outside Tripoli because those prisons are manned by rebels, we can’t get there. It’s important that the African Union and European Union instructs them to open up all detention centers so every African there can come back home.
Read the full story on CNN.
Photo Credit: Fridah Okutoyi/CNN
