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Nigerian traders groan as Ghanaian authorities shut their shops over $1m tax

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President of Nigerian Traders Union in Ghana, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, on Saturday condemned the closure of shops owned by Nigerians in Ghana by Ghanaian authorities.

Nnaji, who made the revelation to the press, urged the Nigerian government to wade into the issue.

He stated that shops belonging to Nigerian traders in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, were locked up by Ghanaian authorities, who requested cash payment of one million dollars from them as a condition for reopening the shops.

An inter-ministerial task force, Mr Nnaji said, went about on 10th August to identify Nigerian-owned shops and demanded business taxes, standard control, resident permit and Ghana Investment Promotion Council registration.

“Most of our members do not have the GIPC registration, because it requires one million dollars cash or equity and they gave us 14 days within which to regularise.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt protests demolition of its Embassy staff quarters in Ghana

“As of Thursday, they had moved to another area and started locking up shops of Nigerian traders.

“Nigerian life in Ghana matters. This is the livelihood of Nigerians being destroyed by Ghanaian Authorities. This is not being perpetrated by a trade union, but Ghanaian authorities.

“They demanded that we must employ a minimum of 25 skilled Ghanaian workers and must not trade in commodities that Ghanaian traders have applied to trade in,’ Nnaji said.

He added that “the humiliation of Nigerians is getting out of hand. We are calling on the Nigerian government to come to our aid. We have legally registered our businesses and we pay taxes”.

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