The United States government has deported Nigerians and other nationals of West African countries to Ghana in the first major deportation targeting nationals of the Sahel nations.
Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed the development on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, during a press conference. He disclosed that his country has received no fewer than 14 deportees, including Nigerians, a Gambian, and other West Africans.
According to Mahama, the move followed an agreement with Washington and was consistent with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol on free movement.
“A group of 14 deportees, including Nigerians and one Gambian, have already arrived in Ghana, and the government facilitated their return to their home countries,” the Ghanaian leader said.
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Nigerians heading home
He said the Ghanaian government had made arrangements to transport the Nigerians back to their country by bus, while the Gambian was still being assisted to return home.
“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US. And we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable.
“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country,” Mahama said.
Mahama described the relationship between Accra and Washington as a “tightening situation,” citing the hiked U.S. tariffs on Ghanaian goods and visa restrictions on its nationals, even though he maintained an optimistic view about the situation.
Trump’s clampdown on immigration
The development marks a landmark shift in US deportation policy, driven by the President Trump administration’s push for illegal migrants to be transferred to “third countries.”
The US President has approached African countries to accept deportees as part of his tougher immigration agenda. While Ghana has agreed to cooperate, some African countries, including Nigeria, rejected the proposal despite diplomatic pressure from Washington.
In July, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated that the Nigerian government will not cave in to pressure to take in deportees from third countries, citing both economic and security concerns.
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Recently, the US deported five individuals to Eswatini and eight others to South Sudan.
Weeks after striking an agreement for the transfer of up to 250 people, Rwanda received even migrants deported from the United States in August.
Some of the deportees have been citizens of countries such as Jamaica, Vietnam and Laos, a move that human rights advocates have described as violations of fundamental rights.
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