More attacks have been launched on Nigerian-owned businesses in Ghana by the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA).
The union reportedly stormed the Opera Square in Accra to shut down 15 shops owned by Nigerians. This brings the total number of businesses belonging to Nigerians shut down by GUTA to 70.
Recall that Nairametrics reported when shops owned by Nigerians in five markets located in Kumasi, Ghana were shut by GUTA in retaliation to the border closure order given by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The shutdown happened two weeks after the regional secretary of the union, David Amoateng urged Ghanaians to boycott Nigerian goods as a counteraction to the border closure.
Why the shutdown? Although the shutdown was said to be because the businesses violated the rules guiding the operation of non-nationals in Ghana, there are claims that it was provoked by the border closure because the association specifically targeted shops owned by Nigerians.
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The closure of the Nigerian land borders has affected Ghanaian traders thoroughly. Some were reportedly stuck inside the country with tons of goods which they intended to transport through Benin by road. According to the Ghanaian traders’ union, about 100 trucks of goods belonging to Ghanaian traders have been locked up in Nigeria since the border closure.
Meanwhile, in a bid to prevent more clampdown by GUTA on Nigerian businesses, the National President of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG), Chukwuemeka Nnaji, advised its members to close their shops today. This followed a tip-off that there was a planned attack on Nigerian-owned businesses at Tip Toe Lane and Kwame Nkrumah Circle areas in Ghana.
The atmosphere between the unions, GUTA and NUTAG seems to have grown intense as the police and the Nigerian mission were said to have intervened to avert a major clash between members of the trade unions.
