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The Federal Government of Nigeria announced on Thursday that it has not received any official notification concerning reports that Nigerians deported from the United States were being redirected to Ghana.
The clarification followed claims that Ghana had agreed to host Nigerians and other West Africans expelled from the U.S. under a new arrangement. According to Reuters, Ghana’s President John Mahama revealed on Wednesday that an initial group of 14 deportees—consisting of Nigerians, a Gambian, and others—had already arrived in Accra, where Ghanaian authorities were working to facilitate their eventual return to their home countries. The report did not state how many of the deportees were Nigerian.
Mahama explained that the U.S. had approached his government to accept third-country nationals facing removal from the U.S. He said Ghana agreed because West African citizens do not need visas to enter the country. “All our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.
When contacted for clarification, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa told reporters, “We have yet to be informed officially.”
This development comes amid broader criticism of U.S. efforts to strike deportation deals with African nations. Nigeria has been one of the strongest opponents of the policy, resisting arrangements similar to those already accepted by Rwanda, Eswatini, Ghana, and South Sudan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar disclosed in July that the Trump administration was pressuring African countries to receive deportees, including Venezuelans convicted of crimes, under its controversial “third-country deportation” policy. He condemned the move as “unacceptable,” warning that it would unfairly burden countries like Nigeria, which are already grappling with domestic challenges.
Diplomatic veterans weighed in on Ghana’s decision. Retired Ambassador Rasheed Akinkuolie stressed that Ghana has the sovereign right to accept deportees from the U.S., adding that “what Ghana will do with the deportees is left for the country to sort out.” Another retired envoy, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, argued that Ghana’s acceptance was likely based on logistical convenience rather than any bilateral agreement with Nigeria. He noted that ECOWAS citizens, including Nigerians, do not need visas to enter Ghana. Retired Ambassador Mohammed Mabdul warned, however, that if not carefully managed, the move could strain Nigeria-Ghana relations, especially given past disputes over the treatment of Nigerian traders in Ghana.
Beyond West Africa, the third-country deportation policy has been expanding since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of June 23, 2025, which upheld the practice of sending deportees to countries other than their own when their governments refuse to accept them.
The U.S. has already carried out deportations under the scheme. Reports indicate that Washington paid El Salvador $5 million in March to jail more than 250 Venezuelans accused of gang ties in a maximum-security facility known for human rights abuses. In Africa, South Sudan became the first country to accept deportees under the policy, receiving eight men convicted of violent crimes and lacking legal U.S. status in July. Eswatini soon followed, hosting five deportees from countries such as Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos. Rwanda later agreed to accept up to 250 deportees, with the condition that it could exercise discretion over who to admit.
Ghana is now the latest African nation to receive deportees, sparking concern in Nigeria that the arrangement could set a precedent for handling future U.S. removals involving West Africans.
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