Cameroonian dies in desert en route for greener pasture in Europe.

Accounts hold that she famished to death. It is reported that the young lady was a businesswoman in Douala. 

She is said to have sold her business and added the money to what she had saved to embark on the perilous journey of going to Europe through the desert.

Video clips apparently filmed by other illegal migrants have surfaced on the internet in which Emmanuela’s corpse is seen abandoned in the desert.

It is being said that those who stumbled on the corpse had no clue of who she was. They are said to have opted to film her corpse and drop the video on the social media.

One of those who filmed her corpse was heard in the amateur video exclaiming that “look at someone’s mother, rest in peace”. 

Other accounts hold that she was later buried in a shallow grave dug in the desert by some of the migrants. 

The International Organisation for Migration, IOM, is said to have released a report some time ago indicating that illegal Cameroonian emigrants had hit the neighbourhood of 170,363 in recent years. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Relations is said to have estimated that up to 300,000 Cameroonians live in the Gulf of Guinea States.

The organisation also reported that at least about 5,000 deaths have been recorded on European migration routes since 2021. Such illegal migrations have been attributed to unemployment and poverty. 

Most people, authorities said, are also influenced by success stories of other persons who accessed Europe through such deadly desert routes.

By Tabe Glory Ama (Journalism student on internship)

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3164 of Wednesday July 10, 2024