Nigerian migrants return from Libya with tales of horror

Some knelt and placed their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Several carried small children. After being stranded in Libya on a failed attempt to reach Europe, more than 400 Nigerian migrants were brought home and began sharing stories of abuse and fear.

"If they lock you up in a room, you hardly eat, that's number one," Ejike Ernest, one of the returnees, told The Associated Press on arrival late Tuesday in Lagos. "You'll urinate there, you'll defecate there and every morning, let me say three times a day, you will be severely beaten" until you can pay the money to be freed.

Nigerian returnees from Libya disembark from a plane upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

National Emergency Management Agency officials register Nigerian returnees from Libya upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.  (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Nigeria's government, its president appalled by recent CNN footage of a slave auction in Libya where migrant Africans were "sold like goats," has committed to bringing its citizens home, along with a number of other African nations.

After disembarking from a plane chartered by Nigeria, the European Union and the International Organization for Migration, some of the newest arrivals looked exhausted, some clutching sleepy children. Some were astonished by the way they had been treated.

"It's heartbreaking, especially when I see a 13-year-old come with a baby," said Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to Nigeria's president on diaspora and foreign affairs. "One 14-year-old girl said to us she doesn't know how many men have slept with her, she can't count ... You look at them and wonder whether their lives can ever be the same again."

Nigeria Immigration officials register Nigerian returnees upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos Nigeria Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Nigerian returnees from Libya wait to be registered by officials upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos Nigeria Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

The African Union and member states will repatriate more than 15,000 migrants stranded in Libya by the end of the year amid outrage over the slave auction footage, the AU's deputy chairman said Tuesday.

Between 400,000 and 700,000 African migrants are in dozens of camps across the chaotic North African country, often under inhumane conditions, AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told a summit of European and African leaders last week.

The AU has a six-week plan to "access all detention centers in Libya and repatriate all those who want to return home," Mahamat said Wednesday on Twitter.

Europe has struggled to stem the flow of tens of thousands of Africans making the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. But many Africans still make the journey, risking death and abuse, saying high unemployment and climate change leave them little choice.

Another Nigerian recently repatriated told the AP about his ordeal.

Nigerian returnees from Libya wait to be registered upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos Nigeria Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

An unidentified Immigration officer, right, speaks to Nigerian returnees from Libya upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos Nigeria Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

"I paid 500,000 naira ($1,600) to one Nigerian called Mr. Fix It in 2016 to facilitate my illegal journey to Europe through Libya across the Mediterranean Sea. But on getting to Libya, he abandoned all of us to our fate," the man said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for his security.

He said he and others were detained by Libyan militia members and kept in a makeshift prison where they were tortured and starved. More than 10 Nigerians, including girls, were sold as slaves. He was lucky to be rescued by security forces, he said, and was repatriated in July.

African and European leaders last week drew up an emergency evacuation plan for migrants, agreeing to airlift at least 3,800 stranded in one of more than 40 detention centers across Libya. Morocco, France, and Germany will provide the air carriers, according to Gambian senior foreign affairs official Ebrima Jobe.

Nigerian returnees from Libya disembark from a plane upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.  (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Nigerian returnees from Libya hand over their baggage tags to an official of National Emergency Management Agency after been process upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Jobe criticized the "African brothers" who act as middlemen for the smugglers. "Our criminal justice system should without delay initiate the prosecution of all those Africans involved," he said.

Other African countries are now joining in on repatriations, including Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

Amnesty International has criticized Europe, saying its primary aim is to close the Mediterranean route and leave hundreds of thousands of migrants trapped in Libya and facing horrific abuses.

Nigerian returnees from Libya disembark from a plane upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Nigerian returnees from Libya disembark from a plane upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe, said: "Plans which overwhelmingly prioritize the 'voluntary' return of people now stuck in Libya to their country of origin without an effective system for assessing and meeting asylum needs or offering more resettlement places will end up as a mechanism for mass deportation."

PHOENIX (AP) — Mexico's top official in the Arizona border town of Nogales said Tuesday his country is displeased that prosecutors in the U.S. won't retry an American rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican man on his property.

Prosecutors had the option to retry George Alan Kelly, 75, or drop the case after the jury deadlocked on a verdict last week and the judge declared a mistrial.

“This seems to us to be a very regrettable decision,” Mexican Consul General Marcos Moreno Baez said of the announcement a day earlier by the Santa Cruz County Attorney Office.

“We will explore other options with the family, including a civil process,” Moreno said, referring to the possibility of a lawsuit.

Kelly had been charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico.

Prosecutors had said Kelly recklessly fired nine shots from an AK-style rifle toward a group of men about 100 yards (90 meters) away on his cattle ranch near the U.S. southern border. Kelly has said he fired warning shots in the air, but argued he didn’t shoot directly at anyone.

Judge Thomas Fink said a hearing would be scheduled later to determine if the case would be dismissed with prejudice, which would mean it couldn’t be brought back to court. No new documents in the case had been posted by midday Tuesday.

Kelly's defense attorney Brenna Larkin welcomed the decision not to retry her client.

“Mr. Kelly and his wife have been living through a nightmare for over a year, and they can finally rest easy,” said Larkin said Tuesday. “While that injustice to Gabriel and his family is unfortunate, we are at least pleased to know that the injustice will not be compounded by scapegoating an innocent man.”

Larkin said she was "curious about the Mexican government’s continued involvement in this case"" and noted that Cuen-Buitimea had been arrested and deported several times for illegal entry into the U.S.

Moreno said the consulate he heads in Nogales, Arizona, will continue supporting Cuen-Buitimea's family. Consular officials sat with the victim's two adult daughters during the trial.

The trial coincided with a U.S. presidential election race that has drawn widespread interest in border security. During it, court officials took jurors to Kelly’s ranch as well as a section of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A sign referring to Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican man found dead on the ranch of George Alan Kelly, sits outside the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Monday, April 29, 2024. Kelly's trial on a charge of second-degree murder ended last week with a deadlocked jury, and prosecutors said Monday during a hearing that they would not retry him. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)

George Alan Kelly listens as county prosecutors call to dismiss his criminal case during a hearing Monday, April 29, 2024, in Nogales, Ariz. Kelly's trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)

Ana Maria Vasquez Leon, left, and Magdaleno Rosa Avila protest outside the courthouse on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. The trial of rancher George Alan Kelly in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury, and prosecutors said during a hearing Monday they would not retry him. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)

George Alan Kelly, center, is followed by reporters as he exits the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. Kelly's trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury and prosecutors said Monday they will not retry him. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)