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Four Nigerian stowaways managed to survive a two-week 3,500-mile trip across the Atlantic perched on the rudder of a cargo ship.

The men told Reuters news agency they spent 10 days rationing what little food and drink they had before surviving for four days by sipping seawater.

They were shocked, to say the least, when they boarded the boat intending to arrive in Europe only to end up in Brazil instead.

As the ship floated across the Atlantic, the men rigged up a net around the rudder and tied themselves to it with a rope to prevent themselves from falling off.

One of the men, Roman Ebimene Friday, 35, said he often looked down to see ‘big fish like whales and sharks’.

Sleep wasn’t an option either. One toss or turn could prove fatal, while the sound of the engine ticking along made falling asleep difficult anyway.

Hiding from the crew was a top priority for the men, fearing that, if caught, they would be thrown into the water.

‘It was a terrible experience for me,’ added Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye, 38.

‘On board, it is not easy. I was shaking, so scared. But I’m here.’

The Liberian-flagged Ken Wave left Lagos on June 27. Friday, from Bayelsa, said he was rowed to the boat by a fisherman only to see three men sat just above the boat’s propeller.

The men were eventually rescued as the ship was off the coast of the southeastern state of Espírito Santo.

Federal police officers rescued the men at the Vitoria port, the force said, all of whom were suffering from ‘precarious health conditions’.

Each had their reasons to leave Nigeria, one of Africa’s most populous nations but one rattled by poverty and violence. The country has faced an outbreak of kidnappings in recent years, with one survey finding security is among people’s top concerns.

Yeye, a Pentecostal minister, said severe flooding tore through his peanut and palm oil farm, leaving his family homeless.

One day, he said, he hopes they will be able to join him in Brazil.

Yeye and Friday have both applied for asylum in Brazil while the other two men requested to be returned to Nigeria.

The men are not alone. In 2021, 123,300 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean to Europe, according to the UN’s human rights agency.

While the number has been going down for years, fatalities are on the upas people brave turbulent waves and weather.

Last year, at least 3,231 people either died or vanished at sea in the Mediterranean and the northwest African routes.

‘UNHCR has continuously been warning of the horrific experiences and dangers faced by refugees and migrants who resort to these journeys,’ the agency said.

‘Many among them are individuals fleeing conflict, violence and persecution.’ 

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