Nigerians’ Shops In Ghana Still Shut, Says Nnaji
President of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana, Chief Chukwuemeka Nnaji, has regretted the continued closure of shops owned by Nigerians in Ghana, in spite of that country’s government’s directives for the shops to be reopened.
He said although the government of Ghana has ordered that all shut shops belonging to Nigerian traders should be reopened with immediate effect, the directives were yet to be implemented, as the shops were yet to be reopened.
Nnaji said that according to the directives given by the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Ado, shops belonging to his members, which were supposed to have been opened, were still locked, adding: “They symbolically opened about five shops and warned the owners to pack their things and leave Ashanti Region in three months’ time, boasting that if they failed to leave, they were going to destroy their wares.”
Nnaji reiterated that another trader who tried to open his shop was severely beaten by thugs of the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) and that particular shop was sealed with welding machine by the same thugs, querying: “Our questions are: Why is the government not arresting these thugs? Why are locals so emboldened and boasting that Nigerians cannot do anything?”
“Our patient is running out. For over one month now, we are not doing any business. Are they going to compensate us for this deliberate and systematic destruction of our means of livelihood?”According to him: The crisis started recently when the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Ghana cancelled the eviction order to foreign traders by July 27, this year.
