By Peter Omopo
Abuja – The Federal Government has dismissed claims that Nigerians deported from the United States were abandoned in Togo after being reportedly transferred there by Ghanaian authorities, insisting that the returnees are under official profiling procedures.
In a statement to Sunday PUNCH, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) said the deportees were not stranded, as alleged, but were undergoing standard processing in line with international repatriation protocols.
NiDCOM’s Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, explained that the deportation was “special” and required careful handling due to the nature of offences committed by those involved.
“We are aware that some Nigerians were deported, but they are not stranded. They are being profiled because their deportation is not the usual one. Nigeria did not abandon them,” Balogun said.
He added that Ghana had an existing agreement with the United States to receive deportees from the West African sub-region before redistributing them to their respective countries. “After they got to Ghana, Ghana took their own and dispatched others through Togo. They are currently being profiled, not stranded,” he clarified.
The clarification followed reports by a Nigerian deportee who told the BBC that he and others, including Togolese and Liberian nationals, were secretly transported from a military camp in Ghana and “dumped” in Togo under the guise of relocation.
“They did not take us through the main border; they took us through the back door. They paid the police there and dropped us in Togo,” the man alleged, adding that he and three others were struggling to survive in a Lomé hotel without documents or family support.
The 14 deportees, comprising Nigerians and other West Africans, were reportedly the first batch affected by the United States’ “third-country deportation” policy introduced under former President Donald Trump. The policy allows deportees to be sent to other nations if their home countries decline direct repatriation.
Ghana became the first West African nation to sign an agreement with the US to receive such deportees. Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, had defended the deal, saying it was part of an effort to offer “refuge and hope” to fellow Africans rather than a show of support for Washington’s immigration stance.
Balogun explained that many of the deported Nigerians had been convicted of crimes or immigration violations in the US, making it necessary to verify their identities before reintegration. “They are not ordinary returnees. We can’t just allow them to enter the society without profiling,” he said.
He recalled that a previous batch of deportees was flown directly to Lagos two months ago and received by Nigeria’s interagency deportation committee.
NiDCOM also confirmed that thousands of Nigerians in the US are awaiting deportation. “Six months ago, the US told us some thousands of Nigerians had been profiled for deportation. Some are already in detention camps,” Balogun revealed.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing the deportees in Togo have initiated legal action against the US and Ghanaian governments, alleging violations of international human rights. According to the BBC, the deportees were earlier held in US detention facilities and flown out on a military aircraft in shackles.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the ministry was seeking confirmation from its consular section in Ghana.
Efforts to reach one of the deportees’ lawyers, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, were unsuccessful as of press time.
