Ghana: Renewed tension over latest closure of Nigerian-owned shops

September 22, 2021 Elwin Mandowa

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Some Nigerian traders in Ghana are agitating over the closure of their shops by their Ghanaian counterparts.

Several shops in Abbosey Okai and Tip Toe land in Accra and Koforidua in the Eastern Region have been locked up by the Ghanaian traders.

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) sanctioned what it calls a distress action following the unsuccessful diplomatic engagements between the governments of Ghana and Nigeria.

GUTA is accusing the Nigerian traders of failing to cooperate with the joint committee on foreign retail trade by providing documentation on their membership.

But the Nigerian traders have denied the accusation.

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In a statement, GUTA justified the action saying that the incongruous attitude of the Nigerian traders is not only an affront but a plot to frustrate the committee, the state and people of Ghana.

“The Leaders of GUTA are making all efforts to calm down tempers but what we cannot assure of is, to have influence again over the already frustrated and desperate traders.

We hereby want the world to bear witness to the fact that we (GUTA) have given some concessions to our Nigerian counterparts, but they have failed to accept for which there is nothing more we can do than to call for immediate continuation of the operations of the Committee on Foreign Retail Trade, to ensure sanity in our markets”, it said.

But Secretary to the Nigerian Traders in Ghana Evaristus Nwankwo is asking the President of Ghana who doubles as the ECOWAS Chairman to intervene.

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“If this exercise is carried out thousands of Nigerians will be made to suffer going back to Nigeria with little or nothing as many of them had their shops locked for almost two years now.

Please, your Excellency, we are also your children by virtue of you being the current chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of Governments.

We are equally calling on the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to come to our aids”, he said.