- Lists Ghana’s Sins…In Breach Of Vienna Convention, Ecowas Protocol
- Says Hostilities Will No Longer Be Tolerated
By Gbenga Abulude
It appears Nigeria is not ready to play the ostrich again in the ongoing row with its West African ally, Ghana, as the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government on Friday spewed venom at Ghana for its harsh treatment and increasing hostility towards Nigerians based in that country.
Nigeria says it will no longer tolerate the wrong action on its citizens by Ghanaian authorities, adding that Ghana has continued to breached ECOWAS protocol and the Vienna Convention.
In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, he said the country has been documenting the acts of hostility towards its people by in the authorities in the West African country, adding it was urgently considering a number of options aimed at ameliorating the situation.
It will be recalled that on August 16, a video emerged on the social media of Ghanaian task force threatening Nigerian traders in Ghana and locking up their shops over demand for N1 million tax.
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The minister listed such hostilities to include: aggressive and incessant deportation of Nigerians from Ghana, noting that between Jan. 2018 and Feb. 2019, no fewer than 825 Nigerians were deported from Ghana.
Mohammed noted that more than 300 Nigerian shops were locked for four months in Kumasi in 2018, while over 600 Nigerian shops were locked in 2019, and currently, over 250 Nigerian shops had been locked.
The seizure of the Nigerian Mission’s property located at No. 10, Barnes Road, Accra, which the Nigerian Government had used as diplomatic premises for almost 50 years, and the demolition of the Nigerian Mission’s property located at No. 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street, East Ridge, Accra.
He said the government considered the action as a serious breach of the Vienna Convention.
Mohammed added that, though the main reason given for the seizure of Federal Government property at No. 10, Barnes Road in Accra was 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,” he said.
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He also touched on Ghana’s residency permit requirements and outrageous stipulations in the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act.
“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 (120 U.S. dollars, and 60 U.S. dollars for yearly renewal), Medical examinations, including for Covid-19 which is newly-introduced (about 120 U.S. dollars), and payment for residency permit (400 U.S dollars compared to the N7,000 being paid by Ghanaians for residency card in Nigeria).
“When the Act was initially promulgated in 1994, a foreigner is required to invest at least 300, 000 U.S. dollars 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 one million U.S. dollars.
“Though targeted at foreigners, it seems GIPC’s definition of foreigners is Nigerians. The GIPC Act also negates the ECOWAS Protocol.”
The minister said the negative reportage of issues concerning Nigerians resident in Ghana by the Ghanaian media was 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 discriminately-long jail terms for convicted Nigerians.
“There are currently more than 200 Nigerians in the Nsawam Maximum prison in Ghana alone,” he said.
Mohammed said the Government would like to put on record the fact that even though more than one million Ghanaians are resident in Nigeria, they are not being subjected to the kind of hostility being meted out to Nigerians in Ghana.
He, however, appealed to Nigerians resident in Ghana to remain law abiding and not to take laws into their hands.
