Online Reporter
ABUJA. – Nigeria will not alter its stance against accepting deportees from the United States, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman has said, noting the most populous African country would never accept “additional baggage” to its existing socio-economic challenges.
Speaking in an interview published by the local Saturday Punch, Kimiebi Ebienfa, the spokesman for the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said no amount of pressure from Washington could persuade Nigeria to rescind its decision against accepting some foreign nationals deported from the United States, some of whom are directly from prison.
“Even if other African countries are accepting deportees from the United States, Nigeria will not accept them,” he said, reiterating that the country has its own issues that “we are struggling with.”
Nigeria was not in a position to accommodate foreign deportees, especially those with potential criminal backgrounds, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said in a separate interview with local media last month.
Nigeria’s unwavering stance signals a new layer of complexity in diplomatic relations between Washington and African nations, according to Tuggar, adding that acceding to such requests could set an unsustainable precedent for future deportations. – Xinhua
Bongani Ndlovu