Popular broadcaster recounts perilous journey to Libya

Ghanaian broadcaster Kwabena Yeboah, popularly known as Odiifour, has recounted how he travelled to Libya by road and on foot in search of better opportunities after his dismissal from a Ghanaian security service.

Speaking on The Delay Show, Odiifour said he spent six years in Libya, where he initially worked as a mason before securing other jobs that improved his financial circumstances.

He declined to identify the security institution he had worked for or disclose the circumstances surrounding his dismissal, explaining that some of the officials involved were still serving and retained power.

Odiifour described the journey to Libya as dangerous but said the hardship people experience in their home countries can push them to undertake such risks in search of better opportunities.

He recounted that his early days in Libya involved working as a mason alongside local resident.

However, he and other workers fled their workplace after their employer accused one of them of stealing his phone.

The group eventually encountered a Ghanaian who helped them travel to Tripoli, where Odiifour continued working as a mason and taking on other jobs.

He said an encounter with a Libyan soldier changed his circumstances.

After the soldier became impressed with his work cleaning animal pens at his residence, the soldier reportedly helped him secure employment with a company associated with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Odiifour said his financial circumstances improved, allowing him to send money home to support his family.

Before leaving Ghana, he said, his wife was three months pregnant. He had not informed her of his intention to travel to Libya. By the time he began sending money home, she had given birth to their son.

His time abroad was later disrupted by the outbreak of war in Libya in 2011, forcing him to leave the country and return to Ghana.

Odiifour's account provides a personal perspective on the risks migrants face in pursuit of better economic opportunities and the uncertainty that can follow when conflict disrupts their plans.

DELAY INTERVIEWS ODIIFOUR AND ABRAMPA