The Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Rashid Bawa, has said Ghana has no intention to harass and embarrass Nigerian citizens coming into the country with regards to COVID-19 testing procedures.
A press statement by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM)
Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Tuesday in Abuja, said the Ghanaian envoy made this known when he visited the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) in Abuja.
The statement signed by Gabriel Odu noted that speaking against the backdrop of alleged maltreatment of a Nigerian who tested negative to COVID-19 in Dubai but tested positive on arrival in Ghana, Bawa pointed out that while the COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test was mandatory, Ghana would not maliciously produce COVID-19 positive test results for visitors, especially Nigerians visiting Ghana.
The Ghanaian envoy expressed concern over the increasing number of underaged Nigerian girls being traficked to Ghana, stressing that everything should be done to prosecute the syndicate behind such dastardly act.
The high commissioner acknowledged that both countries, in recent times, have experienced some challenges, despite the long bilateral relationship between them, noting that one of such was the growing tension concerning Nigerian traders in Ghana.
According to the Bawa, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been reached between the Ministers of Trade in Ghana and Nigeria, just as a Joint Task Force was set up to further monitor the situation.
The high commissioner further stated that both countries would stop at nothing to fish out perpetrators of cybercrimes and syndicates trafficking Nigerian female minors from Nigeria to Ghana, for prostitution.
He commended the work of Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa for her due diligence in projecting Nigerian Diasporas as an important factor towards development in Nigeria and hopes that a similar Commission will be replicated in his home country.
Responding, the NIDCOM chairman agreed that though the COVID-19 test was a necessary prerequisite for visitors coming to Ghana, the Ghanaian authorities, on the other hand, must ensure that visitors were treated with dignity and fairness.
On cybercrimes and human trafficking, the NIDCOM CEO said sister agencies such as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would partner with the Ghanaian authorities to get rid of the fraudsters giving Nigerians in Ghana bad name and causing problems in the host country.
