Federal Government has expressed deep concern over 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.
In a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, The Federal Government said it has been documenting the acts of hostility towards Nigeria and Nigerians by the Ghanaian authorities.
The statement highlights the acts of hostility to 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; Demolition of the Nigerian Mission’s property located at No. 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street, East Ridge, Accra; Aggressive and incessant deportation of Nigerians from Ghana between January 2018 and February 2019, when 825 Nigerians were deported from Ghana; Closure of over 1000 shops belonging to Nigerians; Residency Permit requirements, for which the Ghana Immigration; Service has placed huge fees, far higher than the fees charged by
the Nigerian Immigration Service which 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).
Others are Outrageous stipulations in the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act; Media war against Nigerians in Ghana; Harsh and openly biased judicial trial and pronouncement of indiscriminately long jail terms for convicted Nigerians.
The statement notes that there are currently over 200 Nigerians in the Nsawam Maximum prison in Ghana alone.
It states that 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.
The statement explains further that 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.
It says 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.
In the meantime, the Federal Government appealed to its citizens resident in Ghana to remain law abiding and avoid engaging in self help, despite their ordeal.

PR/Oluwakayode Banjo

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