THE family of a Liverpool filmmaker being held in prison off the coast of West Africa today said they were “beside themselves” with worry.
Graham Hughes, from West Derby, contacted his relatives in Liverpool at the weekend to inform them that he had been arrested and imprisoned on Santiago, the largest of the Cape Verde islands.
The video director had gone to the island as part of a marathon challenge to travel to the 192 UN member states by public transport within a year. He started his journey in January.
He wanted to make the 56,000-mile trip without any flights to raise £1m for charity Water Aid and he planned to take a toilet seat – named Lucy – with him on his journey.
Lucy was to help promote the charity’s mission to improve sanitation in third- world countries.
It is thought that the 30-year-old was arrested on suspicion of entering the country illegally after arriving by boat from Dakar in Senegal.
Mr Hughes’ older brother Alex said he had managed to make contact on Saturday after four days in prison.
He said: “It was a very bad line and he basically said he’d been arrested and he was in a cell with 10 other guys.
“We still don’t know what the charge is.”
