Suspension of policy to lock our shops in Ghana untrue - Nigerian traders cry out

The All Nigerian Community (ANC) Ghana has described as untrue reports that the Ghanaian government has suspended the policy to shut down Nigerian shops in the country.

Responding to the reports, the General Secretary of the All Nigerian Community, Mr. Isaac Osahon Ekhator told MyNigeria.com that the news of the reversal of the policy is false.

"This news of reversal of policy towards the closure of businesses belonging to Nigerians in Ghana, is untrue. It lacks merit and should be totally disregarded, he said."

This statement comes after he had earlier discredited the merit of a report that stated Nigerian shops were opened.

Recall that the All Nigerian Community (ANC) and the Nigerian Traders Association in Ghana, (NUTAG) held a press conference at the forecourt of the Nigerian High Commission to register their displeasure at the closure of Nigerian shops in Ghana.

In December 2019, the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) locked up over six hundred shops belonging to Nigerian retailers at Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

Most of the shops belonging to Nigerian traders in Kumasi in the Ashanti region were also forced to shut down that year after Ghanaian traders alleged that Nigerian traders had taken over the retail business in the country.

This move caused a clash between Ghanaian traders and Nigerian traders leading some persons involved to be arrested while others were badly injured.

Addressing journalists, Isaac Osahon Ekhator said the government of Nigeria has failed its compatriots in addressing their plight in Ghana.

“We believe that Nigerian businesses in Ghana are under attack and it is a clarion call on the Nigerian government to activate immediate and definitive action towards an amicable and lasting solution to this impasse,” Mr. Ekhator said.

He added; “There has been reported difficulties among Nigerians in Ghana resulting in the closure of shops that have occasioned extreme hardship and in some cases the loss of lives and this hardship has been escalated by the severe disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Ekhator, however, cautioned of the socio-economic and diplomatic ramifications the trade impasse could bring on both Ghanaian and Nigerian citizens.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigeria Electrical Dealers Association, Nnanna Joseph Njom has urged the Nigerian government to urgently address the continuous harassment of Nigerian traders in Ghana.

Mr. Njom made this known after the All Nigerian Community (ANC) submitted a petition to the Consular at the Nigeria High Commission, Minister Sylvanus Dauda.

Speaking to MyNigeria after the presser, Mr. Njom said he is positive about the line of action taken by the All Nigerian Community and The Nigerian Union of Traders Association Ghana (NUTAG) and expects a swift response from the Nigerian government regarding the issue.

“There is hope. I am satisfied at the moment, as long as we are now, it seems there is hope. I am satisfied and being a leader the approach that the union is using now, it is very satisfactory and I am sure it would lead us to a very good place, Mr. Njom told MyNigeria.”