Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, has indicated that matters pertaining to the closure of Nigerian-owned shops in Ghana will be accordingly addressed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional body.
According to the Foreign Minister, the Nigerian government wants this matter to be thoroughly investigated by the regional body as he reckons the closure of the shops goes contrary to ECOWAS protocols.
He made this revelation in a meeting with some Nigerian traders.
Currently, over 100 retail shops belonging to foreigners at Circle in Accra have been closed down in an exercise led by the Presidential Committee on retail trade.
“We want this matter to be addressed at the shortest time possible. What is the point of having an economic community, if, at the end of the day, each country will just make a law and regulations that are in contradiction of that”.
The leader of the Nigerian traders, however, believes the recent closure of the shops might be politically fuelled.
“This is the resurgence of what we call harassment. From the way things are playing out we may also start seeing xenophobic attacks of our citizens in Ghana”
He alleged that some of his traders were attacked during the closure of shops by the tasks force but they are ensuring that these traders do not take the law into their hands and retaliate.
The Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Onyeame assured the traders their government is working to secure their safety.
“As we have this matter addressed, we know that there are upcoming elections but we will certainly hope that Nigerians will not be pawns in the electoral game.”
Meanwhile, Ghanaian traders have reacted to the assertions by stating that, the government is only doing its job. Ghanaian traders, according to them, cannot buy from foreign wholesalers and still compete with the same wholesalers in retail.
“We are saying that it is preserved for the indigenous Ghanaians. Leave the retail market for us. We are not asking them to leave, it is the law. If there are Ghanaians who are doing illegal business that is up to them,” one trader stated.
The exercise which started peacefully however, later turned chaotic. The Presidential Committee in the company of the Police arrived at Circle at about 11 am Thursday, August 13.
Public Relations Officer of Ministry of Trade and Industry Prince Boakye Boateng explained that the Committee was only enforcing Section 27, Clause 1 of the GIPC Act.
But Mr Onyeama claimed that the closure of the shops were in contradiction of the ECOWAS protocols.
