He goes on social media often to post photographs of his escapades, including posing with cars that he never owned
Thousands of African lives have been lost in the hazardous journey between North Africa and Europe. Most of these lives were those of young Africans. Everyday you hear tales from the mouths of young Africans (boys and girls) who managed through the graveyard that is the Mediterranean to Europe of their harrowing experiences during these trips. Majority who made it have realised that Europe is not the Happy Valley they had envisaged. The sense of disillusionment has pushed some to the brink, some aligned themselves to crimes and some living it up falsely.

26-year-old Peter Chiebuka who hails from Nigeria is one of the lucky ones who survived the horrors of the sea and made his way to Italy. On arrival he settled in the Veneto region. He immediately applied for asylum and was ferried to the countryside of Padova, where he started manifesting motives not consistent with somebody fleeing from trouble as he professed in his asylum request. Before his name got to the list for interview for his asylum request Peter was all over the place parading himself as someone who had gained some fortune, and appeared everywhere as some sort of celebrity.

Rather than lie low and pray his application for asylum is successful, this 26-year-old threw all cautions to the wind. He was often in the company of questionable characters. He broke camp rule at will, and started manifesting all the traits of a trickster. Peter’s stock in trade, included dressing in trendy clothes, necklaces and moving around Padova and environs with people of dubious character in his company. He goes on social media often to post photographs of his escapades, including posing with cars that he never owned. One of such photographs in which he posed with a Porsche car worth over €250,000, had become a subject of discussing this Nigerian in the Italian media.

Some reports claim Peter posed with the Porsche to lure naive girls looking for husbands as well as deceiving relatives back home in Nigeria that he had arrived. For the record, Peter is looked after by the Italian state while his application for asylum is being determined. For a guy who earns €2.50 daily from the government as pocket money in addition to food and lodging provided by the cooperative group EDECO, contracted by the government for that purpose, the question arises where the 26-year-old got the money for a Porsche or the trendy clothes he wears.

Peter’s false life has landed him in trouble. When he was arrested recently, the authorities in Italy accused Peter Chiebuka of kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault of a 22-year-old girl from the Czech Republic. The authorities are continuing with investigation into the case.