PETER Obi, former governor of Anambra State says the Nigerian Government should pay attention to allegations of highhandedness raised by Nigerian traders in Ghana against Ghanaian Government.
“The cries of Nigerians for help must never go unnoticed,” said Obi on Monday in a Twitter messag
“The allegations by Nigerian traders that Ghanaian authorities are high handed in their dealings with them deserves the attention of our government. In the spirit of African integration, both nations need one another,” he added.
Obi, a former vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections was reacting to media reports on the recent plights of Nigerian traders in Ghana who raised an alarm over the closure of their shops by government agents.
The president of the Nigerian Traders Union in Ghana, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, had in an appeal to the Federal Government said shops belonging to Nigerians in Accra were locked up by Ghanaian authorities who demanded evidence of their Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) registration.
The requirement for GIPC registration is $1 million minimum foreign equity, while registration fee is 31,500 cedis.
Nnaji, who said the humiliation of Nigerians in Ghana, “is getting out of hands,” called for the intervention of the Nigerian government.
Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker who represented Kaduna Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly also spoke on the closure of Nigerian businesses in Kano.
“Ghana should respect the ECOWAS protocols and withdraw the reported $1 million order on Nigerian traders,” Sani said on Monday.
In July 2019, The ICIR reported that retail businesses owned by Nigerians in Ghana were shut down by Ghanaian traders who feared Nigeria’s would take over their businesses in Accra.
The action at the time was the second time in recent weeks that Nigerian traders at Opera Square were assaulted by members of the Ghana Electrical Dealers Association (GEDA).
In June, about 20 shops owned by Nigerians were also closed by the same members of the association.
This latest confrontation came a few days after the Ghanaian Parliament in support of the traders insisted that foreigners must be barred from engaging in retail business in the country.
Again in December 2019, after another waves of attacks on businesses owned by Nigerians in Ghana, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), condemned the renewed attacks saying it was uncalled for.
Dabiri condemned the reported case of attacks on Nigerian shops and traders by Ghanaians, saying it was quite unfortunate because it came when xenophobic attacks have been laid to rest following interventions of Nigerian and Ghanaian leaders.
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