by Dolapo Adelana

A Nigerian lady, Mariam Ohene and her 4-day-old baby were among over 480 migrants rescued by humanitarian ships on Saturday in the central Mediterranean Sea.

Also rescued with Mariam were her two-year-old son named Benjamin and her Ghanaian husband, Richard.

They were part of a travelling companion in two rubber boats carrying over 200 migrants from North and Central Africa, Sri Lanka and Yemen. The boats were seen drifting some 22 nautical miles north of the Libyan town of Sabratha, the most frequently used departure point currently used by people smugglers in Libya.

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Mariam, 29, had lived with her husband, Richard Ohene for over two years in Libya and decided to leave for Europe after they had the baby.

“We want to go to France or Germany, there is a future for our family there,” Richard Ohene said.

Spanish NGO Proactiva Open arms coordinated the rescue operation which lasted three hours.