Nigerian traders resident in Ghana yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to evacuate them from Ghana over the continued closure of their shops.
At a media briefing in Abuja, the President of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana(NUTAG), Chief Chukwuemeka Nnaji, lamented the perennial closure of shops and businesses in Ghana, incessant harassments, torture, intimidations and frustrations by Ghanian authorities.
Nnaji said over 250 shops belonging to Nigerian traders have been currently under lock and key, adding that since 2007, the shops and businesses of Nigerian traders have been locked up over 19 times under the flimsy excuses that are in clear violation and total disregard to ECOWAS Treaty and Protocols, which recognizes every citizen of ECOWAS as “community citizen.”.
He explained that the Ghanaian government has made it a requirement for each Nigerian trader to bring into Ghana from outside the sum of $1million or its equivalent inequity before being allowed to start a business or to continue doing business in the retail sector in Ghana.
He noted that despite the fact that Nigerian business traders in Ghana have been paying their taxes and levies as at when due, they have continued to suffer humiliations, molestations, and a litany of discriminatory practices in the hands of Ghanian authorities.
Speaking about the latest development, Nnaji said, “Since February 2020, the majority of our shops in Ghana have been under lock and key boldly enforced by the Ghanaian Government officials.
“Moved by this action which came shortly after the shameful and unlawful demolition of Nigeria’s House in Accra, several emissaries and high level mediations have taken place for the Ghanaian Government to reopen our shops and businesses, but Ghana remains adamant and bent on destroying our sources of livelihoods and by extension, the Nigerian economy and the fabric of regional integration.”
