Nigerians Deported From US To Arrive From Ghana By Bus

By Ayodele Oni

The United States (US) President, Donald Trump has made good his threat to deport some  Nigerian citizens from his country. The first batch of the deportees are arriving from  Ghana by bus.

They are among first set of Nigerians marked for deportation from the US under President Donald Trump.

President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana disclosed this to Reporters late Wednesday.

The Ghanaian President revealed that “A group of 14 deportees including Nigerians and one Gambian have already arrived  Ghana, and his Government facilitated their return to their home countries,”

Mahama, speaking at a press conference, said Ghana has already facilitated the return of the Nigerians to their country by bus, while the Gambian was still being assisted to return home.

“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals, who were being removed from the US. And we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable.

“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”

Mahama described Ghana-US relations as a “tightening situation”, citing the hiked US tariffs on Ghanaian goods and visa restrictions on its nationals. He however said relations remained positive.

Some of those deported have been citizens of countries such as Jamaica, Vietnam and Laos, with rights groups arguing that this violated their basic rights. Some countries have pushed back against the deportation strategy.

Nigeria, which has been a vocal opponent, has previously said it would not bow to pressure to accept third-country migrants from the US.

The Trump administration has approached a number of African governments about accepting deportees as part of its campaign to deter immigration through high-profile deportations to so-called “third countries.”