Chidi Nwagbo, a 57-year-old Nigerian man who had lived in the United States since 1988, has shared the harrowing story of how he lost several fingers to frostbite while attempting to escape deportation by crossing into Canada through a dangerous, illegal route.
According to Nwagbo, his ordeal began shortly after the re-election of former President Donald Trump.
Fearing intensified immigration crackdowns, Nwagbo said he decided to flee to Canada with the assistance of human smugglers.
He disclosed that he paid $2,000 in cash to a smuggling ring based in New Jersey, hoping to evade immigration raids that were increasingly targeting undocumented immigrants across the US.
The smugglers, he said, promised a relatively easy passage through the woods from New York into Quebec. But the journey, made in the freezing cold of February, nearly claimed his life.
“If I had known what I know now, I wouldn’t have done it,” Nwagbo said, reflecting on the decision that left him permanently disfigured.
He recounted being dropped off near the border and told to walk through deep snow along with other migrants, including a woman from Guinea and two Haitian women, one of whom was carrying an infant.
He further said the smugglers, speaking to them through WhatsApp, kept insisting they were just 10 minutes away from safety, adding that they wandered for hours in sub-zero temperatures that plunged to -28°C.
Nwagbo’s gloves were lost early in the trek, exposing his hands to the extreme cold.
He found it increasingly difficult to respond to the smugglers’ calls due to numbness. Eventually, with no clear idea of their location and fearing death, the group dialed 911. To Nwagbo’s relief, it was the Canadian authorities, not US Border Patrol who responded.
“I was so relieved when I realised it was the Canadian police,” he said.
As he survived the ordeal, he said doctors amputated three fingers and part of his thumb on his left hand, as well as the tips of two fingers on his right hand.
Alongside nearly 100 others attempting a similar escape, Nwagbo was taken into custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Quebec-US border in February.
He admitted that his decision to use smugglers stemmed from a lack of information.
“I didn’t have all the facts to make an informed decision,” he said.
“Don’t do it. It’s too dangerous,” he cautioned. “Smugglers only want your money. They don’t care if you survive.”
Nwagbo, a father of five US-born children from two marriages, was once recognized as a local hero in Columbus, Ohio.
