The Police have heightened security in the trade hub, Opera Square in Accra following agitations over the involvement of foreigners in the retail sector.
The agitations which seem to have now taken a national dimension yesterday saw shops in opera square belonging to Nigerians locked up by their Ghanaian counterparts pushing for the strict implementation of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council ACT 865 which prohibits foreigners from engaging in the retail sector.
Executives of the Ghana Union Traders Association(GUTA) were on Monday arrested by the police and interrogated after the Ghana Electrical Dealers Association threatened to attack the Nigerians.
Speaking to Starr News, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Union Traders Association, Ghana, Evaristus Nwako expressed fear for the safety of Nigerian traders in Ghana.
“We know there is certain underlying fear for Nigerians that are making people to do what they are doing, it cannot be because one or two Nigerians have been involved in crime in Ghana then you begin to stereotype and begin to say all Nigerians are bad. They should have even waited for the Kumasi kidnapping incident to even die down before. Because of that incident spontaneously everywhere they attacking Nigerian traders. I had the same report from the Northern Region that they are giving government two weeks to flush foreigners out and when they say foreigners I can assure you they are talking about Nigerians, forget about the semantics.
“Police were in the market but I think they relaxed security that is why those hoodlums came in. The Police has asked us to identify the people but they don’t come with people we know. I would have loved for police to be around to protect our people because really our people are afraid, ” Evaristus Nwako added.
