Some Ghanaian citizens have staged a protest against Nigerians residing in their country, accusing them of engaging in mass prostitution, ritual killings, armed robbery, and monopolising local markets.
In a viral video recorded on Tuesday, a large group of protesters were seen marching through a major street in Accra, holding placards with bold inscriptions.
Some of the inscriptions read: “Armed robbery and violent attacks must stop,” “Our health at stake due to mass prostitution,” “Who protects the right and freedom of Ghanaians?” “Nigerians are kidnapping and using people for rituals,” and “Our kids are getting missing because of Igbos.”
The protest came amid rising social tensions and unverified allegations of criminal activities against Nigerian nationals in neighbouring West African country.
Protesters also displayed a photo of a man they claimed was murdered by a Nigerian in the Accra area of Ghana.
One woman was seen in the video calling for the expulsion of Nigerians from the country.
“Nigerians must go because you can’t be in someone’s country and be doing anyhow. Nigerians must go!” she yelled.
Another protester alleged that Nigerians, particularly of Igbo origin, had taken over local markets and operating unlawfully in villages across the country.
“These Igbo, they are in every part of the country and have targeted our markets. They even have an Igbo king in Ghana. They have hijacked our lands. It is just a matter of time; we will conquer them and take over our country,” he claimed.
The protest has stirred historical memories of the 1983 mass expulsion of undocumented immigrants from Nigeria, an operation widely referred to as “Ghana Must Go.”
The Nigerian government under President Shehu Shagari had, at the time, ordered the deportation of over two million West African immigrants, many of them Ghanaians.
“Illegal immigrants, under normal circumstances, should not be given any notice whatsoever. If you break a law, then you have to pay for it,” Shagari had declared during the enforcement.
That era also gave rise to the now-iconic checked bag, nicknamed “Ghana Must Go,” used by fleeing Ghanaians to pack their belongings.
It later became a cultural symbol of exclusion and xenophobia.
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