Save our souls, we want to come home - Nigerian traders in Ghana cry, beg FG

The traders said that their businesses have been locked down for months

Situations are currently not well with Nigerian traders in Ghana as they have made a plea to the Nigerian government to help them from the maltreatment they are battling with in the foreign country.

In a Save-Our-Sour letter sent to the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), they asked for a safe return to their country, the News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) reports.

According to Gabriel Odu, NIDCOM spokesman, the traders are of two associations namely: the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) and the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG).

He said that the letter signed by 753 traders of both groups was delivered by a delegation headed by the head of NANTS, Ken Ukoaha.

The letter asked for an immediate evacuation on the basis that Nigeran trader’s lives are under constant grave threats and the inability to keep making ends meet in the country.

A part of the letter reads:

“Diplomatic niceties at the highest level between Nigeria and Ghana have not yielded positive results.

“Landlords are coming to ask us for rent. How do we pay with our shops locked up for so long? We are dying here.”

The commission boss, Abike Dabiri-Erewa has called for calm as she stressed that stakeholders will continue in peace talks.

She added that it is sad that the traders' shops have been locked for almost a year, stating Ghana’s laws breached ECOWAS guidelines on free trade.