3 Nigerian Men Survive 11 Days on Rudder of Ship Travelling From Lagos to Canary Islands

• Three stowaways have been found sitting on the rudder of a ship after it completed an 11-day voyage from Nigeria
• They were taken to hospital at the tanker's destination in Gran Canaria and treated for moderate dehydration
• The number of migrants crossing on boats from west Africa to the Spanish-owned Canary Islands has risen significantly in recent years

Lagos - The Spanish coastguard has rescued three Nigerian men who stowed away on a ship that arrived in the Canary Islands from Lagos by balancing on its rudder just above the waterline.

In a photograph distributed on Twitter by the coastguard on Monday, November 28, the three stowaways are shown perched on the rudder of the oil and chemical tanker Alithini II.

The ship arrived in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria after an 11-day voyage from Lagos in Nigeria, according to Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking website.

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The men were taken into the port and attended to by health services for dehydration and hypothermia, the coastguard said on Twitter.

Txema Santana, a journalist and migration adviser to the Canary Islands government, tweeted:

“It is not the first and it will not be the last. Stowaways do not always have the same luck.”

Spanish data shows migration by sea to the archipelago jumped 51% in the first five months of the year compared with a year earlier.

Thousands of people die each year on the voyage, which is increasingly perilous by the use of rickety wooden or inflatable boats.

Buhari says Nigerians don’t have any reason to complain of hunger

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigerians don’t have any reason to complain of hunger when the country is blessed with vast land for farming.

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Buhari made the comment during a recorded interview with Tambari Hausa TV which aired on Wednesday night, November 2.

While responding to a question on the high rate of hunger in the country, the president said anyone who is really hungry would pick up his tools and head to the farm.

Foreign creditors may seize Nigeria's presidential jets over accumulated debts

In another development, there are indications that aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet may be seized by some foreign creditors.

Due to inadequate funding, it was gathered that some installations on the aircraft had again been postponed to 2023.

President Buhari had since 2016 allocated N81.80billion for the aircraft maintenance and foreign trips.

Source: Legit.ng