David’s Risky Journey: How a Nigerian Man Was Smuggled to Spain, Then Deported Over a Plate of Swallow
A Nigerian man named David has shared a chilling personal story about his escape from Nigeria and what happened afterward, speaking in an interview with a TikTok content creator. He recounted how he joined a group of 20 people who were illegally smuggled into Spain in search of a better life in 1997 – an experience that ended in both tragedy and regret.
According to David, the group’s passage to Spain was facilitated by a man who worked as a port engineer. The man reportedly demanded a total of $20,000, asking each person in the group to pay $1,000 to be hidden inside a ship headed to Spain. David said he used to work as a cleaner at Apapa Wharf, and after making the payment like others, he joined the journey.
He revealed that they were concealed inside the ship’s engine compartment and spent more than a month in transit. Along the way, the vessel made a stop in Morocco. But before the journey ended, seven of the 20 travelers lost their lives due to the harsh and dangerous conditions they endured..
He said “We were all put inside that ship engine, I spent 1 month, 3 weeks inside that ship, from Lagos to Barcelona seaport and inside that ship engine out of 20 of us, 7 died, there was noise, it was heavy noise, but the only advantage there is that it waswarm…”
Their survival depended on loaves of Agege bread and bags of sachet water they had packed before leaving Nigeria. David said that during the journey, the bodies of those who died were secretly thrown into the sea so the ship’s crew wouldn’t discover what had happened.
Eventually, they arrived at their destination Barcelona, Spain. Everyone scattered in different directions, trying to avoid detection by authorities. David said he fled into a nearby farmland area and kept moving for hours until he encountered a Spanish man who, although he didn’t speak English, offered some form of help.
The Spanish man’s son, a medical doctor, arrived shortly after and was able to communicate with David in English. David told them the full story of how he got there. The family promised to help him settle and find work, warning him not to leave the area because any exposure could lead to arrest and deportation.
But despite the warning, David admitted that his craving for traditional Nigerian food—particularly “swallow”—led to his downfall. One day, he spotted a young Nigerian boy passing by and asked where he could get local food. The boy took him to a Nigerian restaurant.
Unfortunately, that same day, immigration officials raided the area. David was caught, arrested, and later deported back to Nigeria.
He confessed that he regretted leaving Spain, especially after all the suffering and loss endured during the journey. However, he mentioned that the small amount of money he managed to save was used to start a local business in Nigeria – he now works in aluminium fabrication.
David’s story is a painful reminder of the risks many people take while trying to escape hardship, only to face new challenges in unfamiliar lands.
