Dumped on 'Strange Land': Nigerian recounts shock after US deported him to Ghana

A Nigerian pastor who was deported from the United States of America (USA) to Ghana is struggling to reunite with his wife and five children after being sent to a country he had never visited.

Samuel Nnamdi, 45, was reportedly arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on July 6, 2026, while on his way to work at UPS.

According to an international news portal, MS NOW, the man of God was later deported to Ghana under the administration of US President Donald Trump’s expanded use of third-country deportations.

Nnamdi told the media portal that he was not properly informed that Ghana would be his destination until he was deported.

“It really felt like a dream. It’s something I wish never happened because I could not reconcile the fact that I am far removed from my family.

“I kept saying, ‘Where is this? What is this?’,” he said.

Nnamdi is originally from Nigeria and moved to the United States in 2018 after fleeing threats linked to his work as a pastor.

The reports said that he entered the US on a tourist visa and later applied for asylum. In 2019, a US immigration judge ruled that he could face serious danger if returned to Nigeria and granted him protection known as withholding of removal.

Based on that, the protection prevented the US government from sending him back to Nigeria but did not stop him from being deported to another country.

Nnamdi had been living and working legally in the US after receiving employment authorisation. He had worked for UPS for about five years and has no criminal record.

He is now living in an undisclosed location in West Africa and has been supported by a Christian community, MS NOW reported.

His lawyer, Julie Justice, said Nnamdi was not given proper notice that he would be deported to Ghana.

The deportation has also separated him from his five children, including two daughters who are US citizens.

Nnamdi said being away from his children had been one of the most painful experiences of his life.

“One of the pains I have seen in this life is children not having their father around,” he said. “All I wanted to do was to raise my children, to raise my family,” he disclosed.

He now keeps in touch with his children through video calls, speaking to them before school and on weekends.

Asked why he chose to live in the US, Nnamdi said it was because he believed it offered safety and opportunity.

“America is that great nation that is accommodating to people,” he said. “America is that great nation that protects people. America is that great nation where a nobody can turn out to become somebody of importance.”