A Nigerian's nightmare failed bid to migrate to Europe
It was the most difficult decision Kelvin Imasuen ever made - he would risk everything in a bid to reach Europe.
The challenges are immense. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is suffering from its worst economic crisis in decades.
Its current population of 170 million is projected to double in the next 30 years meaning the problems of poverty and unemployment are likely to become more acute unless things improve radically.
"I just had the belief I would get there," he told me, sitting outside his mother's dilapidated home on the outskirts of Benin City.
But he was to learn the cost of the dangerous journey in the most devastating way.
Kelvin hoped to go to university, but after his father died the family was plunged into poverty. Kelvin was barely scraping together a living working at a building site.
He was earning at most $2 (£1.55) a day and he says he could not afford the university fees.
Instead, like tens of thousands of other Nigerians hoping to reach Europe, the 26-year-old along with his sister, Augustina, boarded a mini-bus to the north of the country.
"People were just collapsing," he said. "There was no food and no water. There were too many people packed into the jeeps that took us through the desert."
Despite the dangers, Kelvin and his sister pushed on, in search of a better life. Like many Nigerians they were in search of jobs and opportunities.
Finally, they reached the Libyan Coast. Europe, their dream destination, was just a boat ride away.
Their boats capsized and they were separated. His sister died, though he was not so sure. While he was taken into custody before the International Organization of Migration (IOM) returned him back to Nigeria.
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