'This will no longer be tolerated' - FG condemns hostility, harassment of Nigerian traders in Ghana

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has condemned the continuous harassment of Nigerian traders in Ghana by Ghanaian authorities and traders.

In a statement intercepted by Mynigeria.com, Alhaji Mohammed disclosed that the Federal Government is working assiduously in mapping out a strategy that will permanently solve the impasse.

He said that the Nigerian Government has taken note of the actions by the Ghanaian government, staing that they (The Nigerian Government) "will no longer tolerate such".

The statement reads:

The Nigerian Government is deeply concerned by the incessant harassment of its citizens in Ghana and the progressive acts of hostility towards the country by Ghanaian authorities, and will no longer tolerate such.

In this regard, the Federal Government is urgently considering a number of options aimed at ameliorating the situation.

The Federal Government has been documenting the acts of hostility
towards Nigeria and Nigerians by the Ghanaian authorities. These include:

- Seizure of the Nigerian Mission's property located at No. 10, Barnes Road, Accra, which the Nigerian Government has used as diplomatic premises for almost 50 years. This action is a serious breach of the Vienna Convention.

- Demolition of the Nigerian Mission's property located at No. 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street, East Ridge, Accra, another serious breach of the Vienna Convention.

- Aggressive and incessant deportation of Nigerians from Ghana. Between Jan. 2018 and Feb. 2019, 825 Nigerians were deported from Ghana.

- Closure of shops belonging to Nigerians. Over 300 Nigerians shops were locked for four months in Kumasi in 2018; over 600 Nigerian shops were locked in 2019 and, currently, over 250 Nigerians shops have been locked.

- Residency Permit requirements, for which the Ghana Immigration Service has placed huge fees, far higher than the fees charged by the Nigerian Immigration Service. These include the compulsory Non-citizen ID card (US$120, and US$60 for yearly renewal); Medical examinations, including for Covid-19 which is newly-introduced (about US$120), and payment for residency permit (US$400 compared to the N7,000 being paid by Ghanaians for residency card in Nigeria)

- Outrageous stipulations in the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act. When the Act was initially promulgated in 1994, a foreigner is required to invest at least US$300,000 by way of equity capital and also employ 10 Ghanaians. This Act has now been amended twice, with the 2018 GIPC Act raising the minimum capital base for foreign-owned businesses to US$1m. Though targeted at foreigners, it seems GIPC's definition of foreigners is Nigerians. The GIPC Act also negates the ECOWAS Protocol.

- Media war against Nigerians in Ghana. The negative reportage of issues concerning Nigerians resident in Ghana by the Ghanaian media is fuelling an emerging xenophobic attitude towards Nigerian traders and Nigerians in general. The immediate fallout is the incessant harassment and arrest of Nigerian traders and closure of their shops.

- Harsh and openly-biased judicial trial and pronouncement of indiscriminately-long jail terms for convicted Nigerians. There are
currently over 200 Nigerians in the Nsawam Maximum prison in Ghana alone.

The Federal Government will like to put on record the fact that even though over 1 million Ghanaians are resident in Nigeria, they are not being subjected to the kind of hostility being meted out to Nigerians in Ghana.

Also, Even though the main reason given for the seizure of Federal Government property at No. 10, Barnes Road in Accra is the non-renewal of lease after expiration, the Ghanaian authorities did not give Nigeria the right of first refusal or the notice to renew the lease.

By contrast, the lease on some of the properties occupied by the Ghanaian Mission in Nigeria has long expired, yet such properties have not been seized.

Nigeria has time after time demonstrated its fidelity to the long cordial relations with Ghana. But indications, especially in recent times are that Nigeria's stance is now being taken for granted and its citizens being made targets of harassment and objects of ridicule. This will no longer be tolerated under any guise.

In the meantime, the Federal Government wishes to appeal to its citizens resident in Ghana to remain law abiding and avoid engaging in self help, despite their ordeal.

Recall, the Nigerian Community in Ghana had on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, sent a petition to the Nigeria High Commission in Accra over what they call ‘unfair treatment’ in trade practices in Ghana.

This follows the forceful closure of some foreign-owned retail shops of Nigerians in Accra and Kumasi on the basis that their presence was/is ‘illegal’.

Earlier that week, the Nigerian government summoned Ghana’s Chargé d'Affaires to Africa’s over the recent forceful closure of Nigeria-owned shops in Ghana’s central business district.

President of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG), Chukwuemeka Nnaji addressing journalists in Accra on his part said he is worried by the silence of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) in addressing the trade impasse.

“I want the two governments, [Ghana, Nigeria] to settle this trade impasse amicably and I am still worried and concerned why the ECOWAS President has not spoken at this point. There has been no official response from the ECOWAS Secretariat or Parliament and the Speaker of ECOWAS must speak now,” he stressed.

“I also want to stress that some of us [Nigerian traders] will like to go home and some of us are ready to go home. Ghanaians should stop harassing, intimidating and attacking us [Nigerians]. We thank them for the hospitality that has been shown to us over the years.”

He assured that all Ghanaians living in Nigeria will not be subjected to any kind of attack or intimidation just as they have.

Consular at the Nigeria High Commission, Minister Sylvanus Dauda who received the petition assured the Nigerian traders and its community in Ghana of a proactive response in addressing their plight.