There is a fresh tension at the popular Abossey Okai spare parts market in Ghana as Ghanaian traders lock-up shops of their Nigerian counterparts, heightening fresh diplomatic row between the two West Africa countries.
The Ghanaian traders who were daring about their action, Accra-based JoyNews said in a report, insisted that the laws of Ghana do not allow foreigners to engage in retail trade, reason for their actions.
They also accuse the Nigerians of selling substandard products at cheap prices, a practice the Ghanaian traders say is killing their business.
This has drawn the rage from Nigerian traders at Abossey Okai who protested angrily over their shops locked-up by Ghanian co-marketers and not government officials simply because they are “foreigners.”
The local traders also lament unequal to trading space as they claim the Nigerians have enough money to pay for steep prices charged by shop owners, a practice which disadvantages the locals.
These grievances forced the local traders to lock-up the shops of the Nigerians and demanding that they shut down their “illegal” operations.
But the Nigerian traders are infuriated over the repeated attacks.
The leadership of the Nigerian Traders Association of Ghana has urged their members to resist the attacks from the locals.
Chief Emeka Nnaji who spoke to JoyNews lamented what he said is inaction from the government and police after the repeated attacks on them.
“I cannot live in this illegality anymore,” he charged, adding that if the Ghanaian traders want them out, they should buy all their goods and they would pack and leave the country.
Following the Tuesday disturbances MP for the area, Ebenezer Gilbert Nii Narh the leadership of the traders union at Abossey Okai and the Police Commander for the area went into a meeting to iron out the differences.
The resolutions from the meeting are yet to be made public.
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