Ghanaian authorities are working to forestall further escalation of a deportation row that has gripped both their country and Nigeria in recent weeks.
Kwame Takyi, comptroller-general of Ghana Immigration Service, came calling at his Nigerian counterpart Mohammed Babandede’s office in Abuja during which both countries discussed issues surrounding deportation of one another’s citizens.
The visit comes a week after Nigeria deported four Ghanaians to Accra. No formal explanation was publicly rendered for the deportation, which was approved by Abdulrahman Dambazau, the interior minister.
A month earlier, Nigeria had protested mass deportation of at least 723 of its citizens between 2018 and February 2019. The Nigerians were accused of illegal stay, cybercrime, prostitution and other social vices.
Eighty-one Nigerians were deported on alleged cybercrime and illegal stay in January, while 115 have so far been deported in February on the allegation of overstay and prostitution, NAN reported, adding that Nigerian ambassador to Ghana, Michael Abikoye, strongly protested the action to the Ghanaian government in Accra.
