…Aso Rock rejects similar overtures from Washington DC, claiming Nigeria is a Sovereign nation with largest black race in the world, cannot be bullied
*First batch of 14 deportees, made up of Nigerians, a Gambian and others already arrived in Accra, with the Ghanaian authorities facilitating return to their countries
*Justifies decision by saying West Africans don’t need a visa anyway to come to Ghana
*“We were approached by the United States to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from America, and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable”-President JOHN Dramani Mahama
*BY TOLOLOPE ADEBAYO/ENTERTAINMENT Correspondent, Zurich, NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER Inc USA
THE Ghanaian government has revealed details of the deal had with the United States to serve as receivership of deported West African nationals, by ensuring the final return of third-party nationals to their respective countries.
Making this shocking admission, President John Dramani Mahama said on Wednesday that Ghana has begun accepting West African nationals deported from the United States, including Nigerians, others.
According to Reuters, Mahama disclosed that the government of Ghana entered a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with the U.S. State Department, for the deal to have been perfected. He explained that a first batch of 14 deportees, made up of Nigerians, a Gambian and others, had already arrived in Accra, with the Ghanaian authorities facilitating their return to their respective countries.
“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US, and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.
He justified the decision by saying West Africans “don’t need a visa anyway” to come to Ghana.
The arrangement comes amid Washington’s intensified deportation drive under President Donald Trump, who has pushed for removals to “third countries” as part of his hardline immigration policy.
A trusted source in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s presidency under the condition of anonymity confided in our correspondent that “Nigeria is a Sovereign nation of the largest black race in the world. We cannot be bullied into serving as receivership to deported West African nationals from the United States. We have our integrity as a country which we guard jealously”.
Trump has previously overseen deportations of migrants to Eswatini, South Sudan and Rwanda despite safety concerns raised by rights groups.
Nigeria, however, has rejected similar overtures from Washington.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, said in July that the Federal Government would not accept deportees from outside Nigeria, citing national security and economic concerns.
Trump hosted five West African leaders at the White House on July 9, where, according to Reuters, one of the key objectives was to persuade them to receive deportees from other countries.
They include the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.
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