Sadly, the last has not been heard over the ongoing brouhaha between Nigerians living in Ghana and the Ghannian authorities as they revealed that about 700 Nigerians involved in a number of criminal activities including armed robbery, fraud and prostitution were deported from Ghana in 2019.
This was disclosed by Ghanaian Minister of Information, Kojo Nkrumah in a statement on Sunday.
Specifically, Nkrumah was reacting to a statement credited to his Nigerian counterpart, Lai Mohammed on Friday. Equally important, he had faulted the deportation of 825 Nigerians by Ghanaian authorities as inaccurate.
Nkrumah said, “In 2019, seven hundred (700) Nigerians, who were found to have been involved in criminal activities; such as fraud, prostitution, armed robbery etc., were deported.”
Further, the Minister denied a media war against Nigerians in Ghana by the Ghanaian media; which Mohammed said was fueling an emerging xenophobic attitude against Nigerian traders and Nigerians in general.
“The statement is not factual. There is no media war against Nigerians in Ghana. There are also no negative reports on Nigerian residents in Ghana by the Ghanaian media; which could potentially lead to xenophobic attitude towards Nigerians, particularly Nigerian traders in Ghana.’’
He denied a deliberate clampdown on Nigerians in Ghana, adding that the shutdown of shops affected other nationals.
“No Nigerian trader has been arrested. The closure of shops was a result of infractions on Ghanaian laws. Even then, those affected who are not only Nigerian, have been given ample time to regularise their documents. Furthermore, no Nigerian-owned shops are currently closed.
“Ghana’s Minister for Trade and Industry personally intervened to ensure the reopening of closed shops; pending compliance with Ghana’s laws by their operators. Ghana’s courts, at all material times, function independently, and with strict respect for the Laws of Ghana; regardless of the nationalities of accused persons.