Ugoh addressing the media
The Ghana Chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) has cautioned the public against attributing the crime of few Nigerian miscreants to all law-abiding Nigerian residents in Ghana.
According to the organisation, the act of generalising and stereotyping, if not checked, could serve as a justification for violent forces to carry out xenophobic attacks that would endanger the lives and property of law-abiding Nigerian residents in the country.
While interacting with journalists in Accra on Saturday, May 4, 2019, the NIDO Director of Corporate Affairs, Oscar Ugoh, condemned the spate of kidnappings and other crime-related activities allegedly committed by Nigerians living in Ghana.
“Nigerians have automatically been cast as the culprits by the Ghanaian society – an assertion supported by some senior law enforcement agents as well. Apart from the most publicised case concerning the alleged kidnapping of three young girls in Takoradi, none of the other cases has been confirmed to be executed by Nigerians,” he said.
He underscored the significance of Nigeria’s contribution to the Ghanaian economy and socio-economic development evident in the many Nigerian-owned corporate organisations operating with good corporate behaviour.
Mr Ugoh therefore appealed to all parties to be circumspect in their engagements so as not to take actions that would adversely affect the special relationship between both countries.
He revealed that the organisation had decided to constitute a neighbourhood watch among Nigerians in Ghana in order to check behaviours, divulge information and report criminals to security agencies.
He said the organisation had also embarked on a sensitisation campaign and forwarded an official correspondence to the Inspector General of Police.
The president of All Nigerian Community-Ghana, Moses Owharo, indicated that the growing number of Nigerians in the country which is estimated to be four million required the building of a proper data base.
He said steps had been taken to restructure the organisation across the country so as to allow it gather data on all Nigerians in the country.
Besides, the welfare officer of the organisation, Kacey Ogbonna, disclosed that the organisation had developed a system which (subject to permission from the security agencies) would capture the data of Nigerians who entered the country at various entry points.
Meanwhile, a member of the NIDO Board of Trustee, Chief Calistus Elozieuwa, had appealed to government to review its policy on foreign investment and resident permit acquisition in order to help citizens of ECOWAS countries operate legitimately in the country.
He explained that the high capital requirement, coupled with the costly and bureaucratic process of acquiring relevant documents, makes it difficult for some Nigerians to abide by the regulations governing the trade in the country.
By Issah Mohammed