By BushRadio
A Nigerian migrant rescued from Libya, Mercy Olugbenga, has recounted the harrowing ordeal she endured, revealing how she was locked away for months while nurses routinely drained her blood to treat her employer’s ailing mother.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Mercy shared how her struggles began at age 20 after she dropped out of school to support her sick mother, who suffered from kidney disease. Desperate to raise money, she sold family property and was lured to Libya with promises of a better life.
“I thought I was going to work and earn money for my mum’s treatment,” she said. “Instead, I ended up in bondage.”
An indigene of Kabba, Kogi State, Mercy revealed that she spent four years in Libya, including 18 months of unpaid labor to settle debts with the agent who trafficked her for over ₦2.5 million.
During this time, she was frequently maltreated, forced to change jobs, and eventually confined in a house where her blood was secretly drawn.
“At one point, I was locked up in a room for a whole year,” she recounted. “Nurses would come every month to collect my blood. I later realized it was being transfused into their sick mother. I was treated like an animal.”
She described the experience as her “worst nightmare,” emphasizing that many other African migrants face similar exploitation in Libya.
“Maybe they see us as rivals, or they know Nigerians are hardworking and can thrive anywhere. That’s why they treat us like this,” she explained.
Mercy pleaded with young Nigerians not to fall into the same trap she did:
“I don’t want any young girl or boy to go through what I went through. Please don’t take this dangerous route.”