A young woman from Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria, has shared a heartbreaking account of the extreme hardships she faced while crossing the Sahara Desert after fleeing from an alleged trafficker in Mali.
Precious Godwin revealed her experience during an interview on the Abdullahi Tahir Balarae Podcast on July 11, 2026, where she detailed the dangerous conditions migrants endured while attempting to travel towards Libya in search of a better future. Watch D Video Here ➤
According to Godwin, her journey took a dramatic turn after she escaped from a woman she identified as Madam Gold in Bamako, Mali.
According to Godwin, her journey took a dramatic turn after she escaped from a woman she identified as Madam Gold in Bamako, Mali. Having fled the situation she described as trafficking, she decided to continue moving northward with other migrants, hoping to eventually reach Europe.
However, the journey through the Sahara Desert proved far more difficult and life-threatening than she had imagined.
Godwin said one of the biggest challenges the group faced was the severe lack of drinking water. As temperatures soared and dehydration set in, survival became increasingly difficult for everyone travelling in the convoy.
She recalled that the desperation for water reached such extreme levels that some migrants resorted to drinking urine to stay alive.
According to her account, male travellers in the group often pleaded with women to provide urine because there was no other source of liquid available in the vast desert.
“ We didn’t have water. The boys with us were begging us to urinate and give them to drink. If we wanted to urinate, they would cut a jerrycan and ask us to urinate inside so they could drink it,” she said during the interview.
Godwin added that she personally drank her own urine as dehydration became unbearable.
The young woman explained that the intense desert heat, exhaustion, and lack of basic necessities left many migrants focused solely on survival.
She said every day presented new dangers, with travellers struggling to endure the harsh conditions while continuing their journey.
Her story has drawn attention online, with many people expressing shock at the conditions migrants face while attempting to cross the Sahara Desert. Others have used her testimony to highlight the risks associated with irregular migration routes across North Africa.
