Spyglass: The immigrant spy who wanted to turn in human traffickers
Spyglass: The immigrant spy who wanted to turn in human traffickers
We often see news of trawlers drowning on their way to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea. But long before the sight of the Mediterranean Sea, it remains unknown to us that almost twice as many people die tragically every year on the way to Libya or Algeria from various African countries crossing the Sahara. This journey through the desert is much more difficult than the journey by sea. The death here is also very pathetic.
Based on a special report by 'BBC Africa Eye', our article tells the story of such a journey. The story revolves around the experiences of a Ghanaian amateur detective named Ajateng, who falls to his death while spying on a human-trafficking ring. Read part 1 of our four-part series on his story today. When Ajateng crawled across the sands of the Sahara through the pitch-black darkness of the dead of night, he didn't know what was in store for him. He was fleeing a Tuareg rebel checkpoint in the Al-Khalil area of northern Mali, near the Algerian border, where he and 75 other migrants like him were held in three trucks by members of a human-trafficking ring.
Just a few hours earlier, smugglers based in Al-Khalil had stolen his glasses for fun. It was clear from their behavior that they had no intention of returning the glasses. Ajateng is 25 years old, but he is much shorter in height than the smugglers. Only five feet five inches. He realized that there was no point in overdoing them. So he slowly backed away.
But his fear was not over yet. If smugglers take a closer look at the glasses, they will notice the extra-thick frame, the mini USB port on one side of the frame and the charging port on the other. What they will not realize is that he is actually a spy disguised as an immigrant to Europe. Since the beginning of the journey, he has witnessed all the incidents, he didn't take long to understand what the consequences could be if he was caught. The incident was in May 2017. At that time, the rate of migration from Africa to Europe in the hope of a better life was higher than at any time in the past. Ajateng started his journey from Ghana. But in recent years, besides Ghana, millions of women, men and children have arrived in Europe from West African countries including Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Senegal. Thousands died on the journey.
The road from Africa to Europe is very long. Migrants travel thousands of kilometers along the ancient trans-Saharan route through Mali and Niger to reach Libya or Algeria first. Most of these routes are controlled by Tuareg rebels, who sometimes share the money in deals with smugglers and traffickers. Sometimes he stops the truck himself and loots the goods with the help of the passengers. The second leg of the journey starts from Algeria or Libya. Hundreds of people crammed into disposable boats made of wood or plastic headed for the Italian island of Lampadusa. Most of the time the boats start sinking mid way. As luck would have it, a Euphorian Union rescue ship rescued them. And if the luck is bad, it's where everyone gets buried. The year before Ajateng set sail, nearly 5,000 migrants had died in the Mediterranean. But nearly twice as many people died before the sea was in sight, in the heart of the Sahara desert, according to the United Nations. While deaths in the Mediterranean are in the news, deaths in the desert often remain unknown to the world.
When a group of 44 men, women and children from Ghana and Nigeria ran out of gas a few weeks after the Ajateng journey, they all died of thirst. A few weeks later another 50 migrants died trying to cross the Sahara in three trucks.
When Azateng crawled out of the Tuareg rebel checkpoint in al-Khalil and tried to escape in the dark of night, he didn't know what was in store for him. Can he reach Europe? Or at least go back to his motherland Ghana? Or will he die like thousands of other poor Africans in the vast desert? Ajateng was born in a police barracks in northern Ghana. His father was a policeman. His father wanted his son to grow up and join the police force like him. But the corruption of the police showed up close Ajateng was disgusted with the police. He wanted to grow up to be a spy and unmask the corrupt and big criminals.
Ajateng has been a fan of James Bond and various low-budget CIA thriller films since childhood. He used to spend the pocket money given by his father on pirated DVDs of spy movies bought from the neighborhood shop. He always carried a pocket radio and fancied himself a detective.
While in high school, Ajateng first had the opportunity to pursue his passion for spying. Using his mobile phone, he recorded and exposed the misdeeds of a group of corrupt teachers, who used to drink in school premises and extort money from students in exchange for high marks in exams. When the story he leaked was published in the local newspaper, teachers involved in the corruption, including the headmaster, lost their jobs.
After finishing school, Ajateng moved to Kintampo town and started working in the fields with his mother. Working all day and lying in bed at night, he thought that one day he would become a famous undercover journalist. He will present a bigger story to the countrymen. Big criminals will be handed over to the law.
It was at this time that he listened on the radio as thousands of African men, women and children were dying in the Sahara desert and in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe. Ajateng realized that he had been waiting for this story for so long. This is the story he has to tell. It is necessary to find out who is pushing these helpless people to the face of death! After six months Ajateng started his journey. He first appeared in the town of Abeka Lapaz, on the western edge of Accra, the capital of Ghana. There, he entered the two-story showroom of a computer service provider named CSIT Limited, next to the nine-lane George W. Bush Highway. He buys a spy camera capable of secretly recording his target.
The store had a variety of spycams. Some were in buttons, some were in pens, and some were in watches. But Azateng likes the spycam built into the glasses. Its picture resolution is not very high, it can't take good pictures at night, but it was relatively cheap for the price. Only 200 Ghanaian Cedis, or about 30 Euros.
For the next five months, Ajateng kept saving money. Also, he practiced day and night taking pictures and audio-video recording with the hidden camera inside his glasses. He also learned how to quickly remove the memory card from the glasses and hide it in his mouth in case of being caught, based on a spy movie he watched as a child. Then one day, after completing all the preparations, he sold two sheep, six goats and ten chickens from his farm. Ajateng left the house with that money. Before leaving, he informed his parish priest that he had decided to travel to Europe via human traffickers, to record their crimes with a camera hidden in his glasses.
Father asked him, has Ajateng thought, how big is the risk? Ajateng replied that he had decided to take this risk after considering everything. Because according to him, it is his responsibility to the world. The responsibility to restore human dignity.
But was Ajateng able to fulfill his duties? Was he able to record the pictures and voices of the traffickers with his hidden camera? How was his experience of crossing the Sahara? What difficult experiences he had to face? We will know the answer to these questions in the next episode of this series.
