The Federal Government has raised strong objections over the deportation of 13 Nigerian nationals by the United States to Ghana, without any prior discussion or consent from Nigerian authorities.
Reports indicate that 13 Nigerians and one Gambian were flown in a U.S. military cargo plane and handed over to Ghanaian authorities, even though the deportees had no direct ties to Ghana.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the country accepted the deportees strictly on humanitarian grounds, calling it a Pan-African duty after other West African nations refused to take them in.
But Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly distanced itself from the incident. Spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa stressed that Nigeria was never consulted, nor has it ever agreed to take in deportees who are not its citizens. He added that Nigerian nationals must be returned directly to their homeland — not rerouted through a third country.
