Nigerian traders in Ghana have decried the closure of their shops by the Ghanaian authorities.
According to reports, the traders were issued a 14-day ultimatum to pay the sum of one million dollars business registration fees and taxes to Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC).
Speaking on the closure, the President of Nigerian Traders Union in Ghana, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, in a interview with News Agency of Nigeria urged the Federal Government to intervene in the matter.
Nnaji said an Inter-Ministerial Task Task Force went round on August 10 to identify the shops owned by Nigerian traders and requested the registration of business taxes, resident permits, standard control, and the GIPC registration.
He said;
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. As of Thursday, they had moved to another area and started locking up shops of Nigerian traders. Nigerian life in Ghana matters. This is livelihood of Nigerians being destroyed by Ghanaian authorities. This is not being perpetrated by a trade union, but Ghanaian authorities.
He added;
They also 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. 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.
In addition, a video of some Ghanaian harassing and forcefully shutting the shop of a Nigerian businessman in Accra over the $1 million tax have gone viral across social media platforms.
The businessman who challenged the officials clearly stated that he has paid both his company tax and all other necessary fees even before registering his business.
He went ahead to show off the documents which backed his claim and also asked the policemen to provide evidence of non-payment of tax by him.
The businessman who criticized the policemen for treating their fellow Africans so unfairly, said he is being harassed over the non-payment of $1 million as tax to the Ghanaian government.
Watch the viral video below;
Ghana authorities closing Nigerian businesses in Ghana.@uLerato_pillay @landback_ pic.twitter.com/67x6VywPhT
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