US-Africa deportations: sent to Ghana and then transferred

A Nigerian man, deported from the US to Ghana, told the BBC that he was now stuck at a hotel in Togo after he and five others were secretly transferred to the neighboring country by Ghana officers.

The man said they were informed that they would be moved from a military camp to better accommodation, but were then “thrown away” to Togo. The BBC addressed the Ghana government for comment.

The US government has deported the Nigerian man – along with other West African citizens – as part of his repression of immigration.

Ghana Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudze Ablaqua earlier said the government had accepted the deported in the spirit of the African involvement.

The Nigerian, who requested anonymity from safety reasons, claims that the Ghana officers took him and the five deported to Togo through the rear route. He also claims that this was done after the local police bribe and without informing Togos’s authorities about their entry.

“They did not take us across the main border, they passed through the back door. They paid the police there and put us in Togo,” he said.

Togoli authorities have not commented on the alleged presence of the deported on their territory.

Four of the group – three Nigerians and Liberian – then registered at a hotel in Lome, the capital of Togos, which is located just across the border from which they were abandoned.

Without any documents, he said they rely on hotel employees to receive money from relatives abroad to cover their bills.

“We are struggling to survive in Togo without any documentation,” he said.

“None of us have a family in Togo. We are just stuck in a hotel,” he added. “At the moment we are just trying to survive until our lawyers can help us in this situation.”

He said that while they were in Ghana, they wanted better conditions of life after the environment in the military camp where they were placed was “deplorable”.

“Life there was really difficult, so we wanted a better place, better medicines, better healthcare and better water,” the Nigerian told the BBC.

He said that immigration officials arrived at the camp days later, saying they were occupying six of them at a hotel for more comfort, but they found themselves across the border in Togo.

“When we arrived, we asked what we were doing at the border and they told us that they wanted us to sign some documentation so that they could take us to a hotel, but we didn’t sign anything,” he added.

The Nigerian told the BBC that the language barrier in Togo makes it difficult to communicate. Togo’s official language is French as he spoke English.

He also said his deportation had affected his family in the United States.

“I have a house in the United States where my children live. How should I pay the mortgage? I don’t know how they will handle it until I’m gone. My children can’t see me and it’s just so stressful,” he complained.

He said he was a member of the Joruba self -determination movement, an activist organization that advocates for a detached state in Southwestern Nigeria for the ethnic group of Yoruba.

Although the movement is not prohibited, it was at the crossing of the Nigerian government, with 27 people arrested last year for participation in his campaign.

Due to his belonging to the group, the man told the BBC that he was afraid that return to Nigeria could lead to arrest and torture. The Nigerian deport said he was under the protection of court in the United States, which should protect him from deportation from the United States.

The United States did not give the reason for its deportation.

The Nigerian was part of a group of West Africans deported to Ghana last month, which included citizens of Togo, Liberia and Gambia.

Previously, they were kept in US detention before being dumped on an US military aircraft, their lawyers said.

The policy of the “US deportation” of the US government is facing criticism, with several countries being repelled against the strategy, including NigeriaS

The deal for Ghana to take over citizens from various West African countries was announced by President John Mahama three weeks ago. He said he was addressed to the United States to accept the deported and agreed because there was a free movement of people in West Africa.

Since then, Foreign Minister Ablakwa said Ghana has not received a financial award for the adoption of the deportes.

Opposition deputies demanded an immediate suspension of the deportation agreement until it was ratified by parliament, but the government said it plans to accept another 40 deported.

The lawyers of the deported launched legal action against both the US government and the Ghanaks, stating that their rights had been violated.