I wasted 16 years trying to travel to Europe – Italy-based Ghanaian

John Dugan, a Ghanaian based in Italy, admits to wasting over a decade trying to immigrate to Europe instead of focusing on his job in Ghana. 

In a chat on SVTV AFRICA with DJ Nyaami, Mr Dugan indicated that he first decided to travel abroad at 20 years old and tried for years to cross to Europe but got the chance at 36 years old. John left his carpentry business and began his journey at Cote D’Ivoire. 

“I went to Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, South Africa and back and forth to Libya. My mom passed away during that time. So I didn’t feel at home in Ghana anymore. When I returned to Ghana, I lost all my customers. 

2007 was the first time I went to Libya. I stayed there for two years, waiting for money from my family to cross the sea, but it never came. I tried the connection to Italy five times, but they arrested us. I was arrested while on the boat, and the officers beat me up continuously for three months,” he narrated.

John Dugan revealed that he became frustrated in Libya after three years and left for Ghana empty-handed. The frustration drove him to sell off his furniture shop in Kumasi. 

“A friend told me about a South Africa-Mexico-US connection in 2010, and I did it. I knew nobody in South Africa, but I just wanted to leave Ghana. It was the biggest mistake because those there even wanted to go to Libya. I travelled to Ethiopia again, but I was deported back to SA and eventually returned to Ghana,” he noted. 

Six years later, John found another route to his dreamland (Italy) and bared it all in the video below;

Sharon Frimpomaa Opoku

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