Nigeria’s government has rejected claims that it was officially notified about its citizens reportedly deported from the United States and to Ghana under a new agreement between Washington and Accra.
The denial followed remarks by Ghana’s President John Mahama, who confirmed that 14 deportees, most of them Nigerians alongside a few Gambians, had arrived in Accra under a bilateral arrangement with Washington.
Mahama explained that the decision complied with the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement, which allows West Africans to stay in member states for up to 90 days without visas.
He added that Ghana would provide buses to return the Nigerians home, while Gambian authorities would handle repatriation for their nationals.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, insisted it has not received any official communication on the matter from either Ghana or the U.S.
“We have yet to be informed officially,” ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa told PUNCH.
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Diplomatic experts argued that Ghana acted within its sovereign rights and likely accepted the deportees based on logistics rather than any bilateral agreement with Nigeria.
Former diplomat Mohammed Mabdul urged both countries to manage the issue carefully to prevent tensions, recalling past disputes over the treatment of Nigerian traders in Ghana.
The development is tied to the United States’ revived “third-country deportation” policy, reinstated by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June 2025.
The policy allows Washington to relocate deportees to third countries when their home nations decline to accept them.
While Ghana, Eswatini, Uganda, South Sudan, and Rwanda have agreed to host deportees under the arrangement, Nigeria has refused, citing sovereignty, security concerns, and the need for proper diplomatic procedures.
Image Credit: Punch Newspapers
