A group, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, has described as distasteful the criminalities engaged by some Nigerians living Ghana.
A Nigerian citizen, Samuel Udoetuk Wills, the suspect in the kidnapping of the three Takoradi girls, is serving a prison term for breaking jail in December last year.
[contextly_sidebar id=”DVxnz58P8PczX7r9KrvfigQOogTkDw1k”]Other Nigerians are suspected to have been linked to other kidnappings in the country.
The disappearance and death of a two-year-old boy at Chinese, a suburb of Kasoa have also been linked to Nigerians in Ghana.
Nathaniel Owusu was found dead with his body hidden under some rubble in April 2019.
This was after an eyewitness disclosed that he saw the deceased in a speeding black saloon car with a Nigerian registration number.
Some residents in the area have blamed the incident on Nigerians living there and have vowed to chase them.
At a press briefing, the group said the majority of Nigerians in Ghana are law-abiding and pledged their support to help arrest the lawbreakers.
“The plain and ugly truth is that the perceived deep involvement of Nigerian in the ongoing rise of kidnappings in Ghana. Irrespective of the true level of their involvement or complicity it is marring the image and reputation of law-abiding resident here [Ghana]. Indeed there is the clear and present danger that this situation would be used by some forces in Ghana to generate a violent backlash against law-abiding socially responsible Nigerians.”
“Notwithstanding we are highly alarmed at the criminal activities of few ill-advised and unpatriotic Nigerians in Ghana and we condemn it in the strongest terms, we wish to note that the Nigerian High Commissioner has been embarking in sanitization of Nigerians in various region in Ghana to be law abiding and live in harmony with their Ghanaian brothers and sisters,” he said.
Anti-Nigerian sentiment
Some angry residents of the area told Citi News that the presence of some Nigerian nationals in the area is the reason for the high number of criminal activities.
“Their activities here are putting the lives of women and children in danger,” an angry resident lamented.
Some of the residents also blamed some Ghanaian landlords who rent rooms to Nigerians adding that when they commit any offences they move because the landlords do not conduct background checks.
“We will take the laws into our own hands if the government does not act fast,” a resident told Citi News.