The National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) has urged the federal government to slam sanctions against Ghanaian businesses in Nigeria over the continuous harassment of Nigerian traders in Ghana.
The president of NANTS, Dr. Ken Ukaoha, made the plea when he led a delegation of NANTS and Nigerian Union of Traders in Ghana (NUTAG) to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday to explore ways of resolving the crisis.
This is as he also urged the government to take the matter to the ECOWAS Court for adjudication.
He said, “We feel strongly that reciprocity is part of diplomacy and so we are challenging the government to rise up to the occasion, because we have had enough,” Ukaoha said.
He lamented the agony, humiliation and torture of Nigerian Traders in Ghana, due to the Ghanaian government’s decision to raise the capital base of any foreign trader doing business in the country to $1m, and the subsequent locking up of many Nigerian traders’ shops since 2019.
He said about 753 Nigerian traders are ready to leave Ghana, saying in spite of the interventions by the Nigerian government, the Ghanaian government has not done enough to reverse the trend.
“Today, Nigerian traders in Ghana are passing through torture, intimidation and molestation of the highest magnitude, if we react proportionately to the kind of pressure we are getting from Ghanaian authorities and their citizens it may lead to civil war.”
Responding, Aregbesola assured the delegation of government’s efforts at resolving the matter. “We will not abandon you. The government is not resting on this matter, it is doing everything possible to make life better for its citizens in Ghana and other countries of the world,” the minister said.
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