Nigerian Deported From US to Ghana Stuck Allegedly Dumped in Togo by Government
- One of the Nigerians deported from the US to Ghana has spoken of his treatment by the Mahama government
- Ghana has been receiving West African deportees from the US amid the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration
- The US has similar deportation agreements with African countries like Rwanda, Eswatini and South Sudan
A Nigerian man deported from the US to Ghana is now stuck in a hotel in Togo.
He was among five people who were reportedly secretly transferred to the country by the government.
Source: Facebook
They were deported from the US as part of the Donald Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on immigration.
The man, who spoke anonymously, told the BBC that they were informed they would be moved from a military camp to better accommodation, but they were then sent to Togo instead.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa previously said the government had accepted the deportees in the spirit of 'pan-African empathy' and not for monetary gain.
The Nigerian man also claimed they were taken to Togo through a back route, which involved the bribery of Togolese police.
"They did not take us through the main border, they took us through the back door. They paid the police there and dropped us in Togo.”
Four of the group then found a hotel in Lomé, but with no documents of their own, they had to rely on the hotel staff to receive money from relatives. He has also struggled with the language barrier as he does not speak French.
"We're struggling to survive in Togo without any documentation… We're just trying to survive until our lawyers can help us with this situation."
He also has some fears of political persecution in Nigeria, as he said he was a member of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, an activist organisation advocating for a breakaway state in south-west Nigeria for the Yoruba ethnic group.
Mahama spoke on arrival of deportees form US
In September, President John Mahama first revealed that Ghana is receiving people deported from the US.
During an engagement with the press on September 10, Mahama stated that a bilateral agreement with the US was in place, allowing nationals from various West African countries to be sent to Ghana.
Source: Facebook
At the time, 14 deportees had already arrived in the country.
Mahama justified this, saying Ecowas's free movement protocol allowed citizens of member states to enter and reside in other West African countries without a visa for at least 90 days.
At the time, he described Ghana-US relations as tight and noted tariffs on Ghanaian goods and visa restrictions on its nationals.
The US has similar deportation agreements with other African countries, including Rwanda, Eswatini and South Sudan.
US reverses visa restrictions on Ghanaian citizens
YEN.com.gh also previously reported that the US had reversed visa restrictions imposed on Ghanaians.
Commenting on the update, Ablakwa said the reversal took months of high-level diplomatic negotiations.
The US was worried that Ghana was one of the African countries with high visa overstay rates in the US.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
