Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe has condemned the closure of shops owned by Nigerians and nationals of other countries in Ghana, describing it as state endorsement of xenophobic attacks.
Abaribe in statement by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom, said the action of Ghanaian authorities was disturbing.
“The authorities in that country need to prove us wrong by putting a halt to further closure of the shops and attacks on Nigerians in compliance to the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) protocol”, the Senator added.
He described as a willful denigration of sub-regional brotherhood and one that is in clear conflict with ECOWAS protocol, Ghana’s recent regulations, which stipulated that retail trade was the exclusive preserve of Ghanaians.
He said: “So what’s the point having an economic community if at the end of the day each country resolves to make laws and regulations that are in contradiction with the binding protocol.
“This is quite absurd as it negates the spirit that propelled the formation of ECOWAS in the first place”.
Abaribe urged ECOWAS to brace up and come clear in the prevailing circumstances to address the member-country behaviour and its far reaching implications in it’s protocol, particularly the issue of free trade and movement among the peoples of the West African sub-region.
He said that Ghana, which hitherto, had been enjoying a robust relationship with Nigeria, had in recent times been treating our people with so much contempt and underserved reprehension.
Ghanaian officials had recently sealed off the shops belonging to Nigerian traders in Accra for allegedly failing to have the one million-dollar equity stipulated by the Ghana Investment Promotions Council.
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