The Nigerian Union of Traders Association (NUTA) operating in Ghana has appealed to President Akufo-Addo and his Nigerian counterpart, President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate action at solving the ongoing trade issues between them.
In a statement signed by the president of the NUTA, Chief Chukwuemeka Nnaji, and the secretary-general, Evaristus Nwankwo, and circulated to media houses in Accra the union complained about the closure of their shops in both Accra and Kumasi.
According to union, the closure has resulted in the loss of millions of Cedis and that their report to the police about their predicament has not resulted in any change in the attitude of the hostile individuals, who they added, were acting in the name of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).
They noted that in spite of their harassment by GUTA, some Ghanaian traders in Nigeria, some of them engaged in fishing and other business activities are enjoying their stay in Nigeria even when the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council law prohibits foreigners from engaging in retailing; the law is not applied to Ghanaians.
“We are aware that the Ghanaian business community in Nigeria has not been harassed in any way and they are doing their business unhindered. From Ilorin to Ekiti, Kaduna to Calabar, the Ghanaian community is the second largest in the fishing business as it is from Lagos to Port Harcourt,” they said.
“We are appealing to our president, Muhammadu Buhari to save us and our families from this GUTA intimidation. We do not sleep well again here in Ghana because of GUTA,” the statement said.
“We want to let the world know that the Ghanaian government has not locked up any of our shops. It is rather GUTA, which has been using local street hooligans to do their hatchet work of locking up our shops,” the statement added.
According to them, in Nigeria, some Ghanaians hold executive positions in the local traders association and wondered why they are being intimidated in Ghana.
DAP/GIK/APA