The Federal Government has dismissed the possibility of accepting 300 Venezuelan deportees from the United States, amid rising diplomatic tensions over visa restrictions and threats of tariff hikes.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, made this known in an interview with Channels Television, where he criticised the move as unfair and linked it to pressure from the Trump administration.
“We already have over 230 million people.
“It will be unfair for Nigeria to accept 300 Venezuelan deportees.
“You will be the same person who will castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” the minister said.
Tuggar added that Nigeria has enough problems of its own and cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria.
African countries under pressure to take deportees
The minister’s remarks come amid reports from The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. government is also pressuring other African nations, including Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon, and Guinea-Bissau, to accept deported migrants which includes individuals who have either completed prison sentences or whose countries are unwilling or slow to repatriate them.
According to the BBC, during a meeting with five African leaders on Wednesday, President Trump said he hoped to reduce visa overstay rates and advance safe third-country agreements, though Liberia’s foreign minister denied receiving any such communication from Washington.
- Tuggar confirmed that the U.S. is pressuring African countries to accept deported Venezuelans, including some from prison. He noted that it would be difficult for a country like Nigeria to comply, as it has enough of its own challenges.
“You have to also bear in mind that the US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prison,” he said.
“It will be difficult for a country like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria, for crying out loud,” he stated.
Instead, Tuggar said Nigeria is focused on negotiating economic partnerships with the U.S., particularly in areas of mutual interest.
“We’re looking to do deals with the US,” he said, highlighting Nigeria’s reserves of gas, critical minerals, and rare earths vital to American technology companies.
Tuggar also noted that diplomatic discussions with Washington are ongoing as both countries work through their differences.
Visa curbs not reciprocal
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of State announced a global reciprocity realignment policy, under which nearly all non-diplomatic and non-immigrant visas for Nigerians have been restricted to single-entry and a validity of only three months.
Tuggar argued that the restrictions are not reciprocal and form part of a broader pressure tactic tied to geopolitical tensions.
The visa changes follow statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that align with the policies of the BRICS bloc, an alliance of developing economies seen as a challenge to Western dominance.
Tuggar dismissed the idea that the tariff threat was directly related to Nigeria’s BRICS involvement.
“The threat of tariff hikes did not necessarily have to do with us participating in BRICS,” he said.
Although Nigeria is not a full BRICS member, it became a partner country in January 2025, joining Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Africa is already over populated. Allowing USA President Donald Trump to use intimidation of Tariff & Brics as a strategy to push Africa to an unknown forest is uncalled for and unacceptable. Africa is human being created by GOD with wisdom despite their colour differences. Africa,stand up and unite as one like Russia,China and North Korea uniting as one.