Don’t bring back ‘Aliens Compliance Order’- ‘Harassed’ Nigerian traders cry to government

Nigerian traders in Ghana are calling on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to ensure that they go about their business in the country without being attacked and harassed by their local counterparts and authorities.

Investigations conducted by MyNewsGh.com reveals that the situation is gradually creating tension between the Nigerian traders and their counterparts in Ghana, which could trigger counter-attacks in Nigeria and therefore the urgent need for the National Security Minister to wade into the matter before it gets out of hand.

They want the Foreign Affairs Minister and Trade and Industry Minister to openly condemn these attacks as the situation could easily be interpreted to have echoes of Ghana’s Aliens Compliance Order, where hundreds of thousands of Nigerian immigrants were forced to leave Ghana in 1969.

This could also erroneously be misinterpreted that the political tradition that introduced the Aliens Compliance Order is back in power today.

It would be recalled Nigeria retaliated on a much bigger scale with the expulsion in 1983 and 1985 resulting in nearly a million Ghanaians being expelled from Nigeria in a very short space of time.

The useful contributions Nigerian investors and traders play in the development of the Ghanaian economy has been acknowledged and they are therefore appealing to the sector Minister and the Minister of foreign affairs to help deal with the situation immediately.

There is the other dimension of intermarriages between Ghanaians and Nigerians

The continuous integration of the ECOWAS economic zone especially the English-speaking countries, means this situation must be handled quickly and sensitively

Meanwhile, the question of the ECOWAS protocols which allow for the free movement of people and goods within member states has to be seriously factored in.

The traders are also calling for protection by the Ghanaian government from further harassments and attacks.