President John Dramani Mahama has assured Nigerian nationals residing in Ghana that there will be no mass deportations, describing recent tensions as “a bit of a storm in a teacup”.

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President Mahama made the assurance to Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who was dispatched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address concerns over a viral video that sparked fears of mass expulsions.

“Ghana has no intention of resorting to mass expulsions,” President Mahama told the Nigerian delegation, emphasizing the shared history and inter-dependence of the two countries. 

He reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to ECOWAS protocols governing free movement of citizens between member states.

President Mahama acknowledged the historical relations between the two nations, describing them as “siblings of the same parents, and so our destinies are joined together.” 

He referenced past mass deportations in both countries – Ghana in the 1960s and Nigeria in the 1980s – calling them “an unfortunate part of our past that we want to put behind us.”

“I believe that none of our two countries should mass deport our citizens ever again,

“We are members of the ECOWAS, and we have the ECOWAS protocol that allows our citizens to travel freely between our countries,” President Mahama stated. 

The President clarified that while there have been isolated incidents involving individuals in criminal activity, such cases are addressed through proper legal procedures rather than collective punishment. 

He stated that foreign residents who engage in criminal activities would be held individually liable and sanctioned according to Ghana’s laws.

President Mahama traced the recent tensions to the resurfacing of a 2013 video featuring what he called an “Igbo king” discussing land acquisition for a kingdom, which was widely misinterpreted as a recent development. 

He explained that Ghanaian law governs the establishment of traditional councils, making such external claims impossible.

Minister Odumegwu-Ojukwu commended President Mahama for de-escalating what could have become a volatile situation, noting that initial fears of widespread unrest upon their arrival in Accra proved unfounded.

Richard Aniagyei, ISD