Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has cited national security concerns as a reason for resisting “pressure” to accept third-country migrants
Nigeria will not accept foreign migrants deported from the US despite other neighbors doing so under deals with Washington, local newspaper The Punch has reported, citing the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson.
Kimiebi Ebienfa told the outlet on Saturday that the West African nation is grappling with “multiple domestic challenges” and will not take on “additional baggage” from abroad.
“We have our own issues we are struggling with. We will not allow ourselves to be pressured into accepting deportees, regardless of what other nations are doing,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to the newspaper.
“We are a sovereign country and we take decisions only after fully analyzing the implications to our national security,” Ebienfa added.
The comments come amid US President Donald Trump’s push to secure third-country deals to deport migrants deemed a threat to America’s national security.
Last week, Rwanda agreed to take up to 250 deportees under a deal in which the East African nation will receive a US grant in return. In July, the Trump administration deported five “barbaric criminals” to Eswatini, saying their home countries had refused to take them back, weeks after sending eight people to South Sudan. Details of the agreements with both countries have not been disclosed. The White House had earlier revoked all visas for South Sudanese passport holders and halted new issuances, effectively barring the country’s nationals from America. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move was in response to Juba’s refusal to accept deported nationals, adding that the measure could be reviewed once the country fully cooperates.
In July, the US State Department announced changes to its “reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy,” cutting the duration and tightening entry conditions for most travelers from countries including Nigeria.
Following the move, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told local broadcaster Channels TV that Washington’s visa restrictions and tariff hikes were not reciprocal measures but coercive tactics aimed at pressuring African nations to “accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prisons.”
