Things are currently not well with Nigerian traders in Ghana! Nigerian traders beg government to help them

Things 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.

- Their SOS call came in a letter to NIDCOM following the closure of their shops by the Ghanaian authority for several months

- NIDCOM boss, Abike, condemned the maltreatment the traders are facing as she said the Nigerian government will welcome them back

In a Save-Our-Soul letter sent to the Nigerians 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 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 traders' lives are under constant grave threats and their 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's chief, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, called for calm as she stressed that stakeholders will continue in peace talks.

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

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that NUTAG complained about Ghanaian authorities’ refusal to open shops owned by Nigerians in Accra.

The president of NUTAG, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, led a protest of his members, revealing that their shops have been locked up since 2019.

He called on the authorities in Nigeria to intervene and help them talk to their Ghanaian counterparts.

Nigerian traders in Ghana have consistently accused local authorities of discrimination with many saying the fight is over retail commerce and Ghana's plans to dominate an area hitherto controlled by Nigerians.

Some analysts in Nigeria have stated that the action of Ghanaian authorities might be due to the border closure by the federal government.