We are surviving by friends and sometimes we give them goods and they give us money,” one of them said to the press.
Some Nigerian traders in Ghana have complained about what they termed unfair treatment meted out to them by some Ghanaians.
Currently, there is tension between the two nations following the demolition of a building belonging to the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana over the weekend.
Following the demolition, some Nigeria protesters on Monday, June 22, converged on the High Commission’s premises in Accra to register their displeasure over current happenings and the demolition.
The protesters, mostly Nigerians, are condemning the closure of their retail businesses in Ghana.
Some of the protesters were chanting “we can’t breathe,” as they engaged the press. “We are surviving by friends and sometimes we give them goods and they give us money,” one of them said to the press.
Their shops were closed in the enforcement of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act (865).
But Nigerian traders had argued that the ECOWAS protocol, which allows the free movement of people, goods, and services in West African countries, also allows them to trade in Ghana.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and particularly Nigerian traders in the country have been at odds because of this issue. The current diplomatic tension between Ghana and Nigeria has yet to settle.