Nigeria’s foreign minister says the country will not bow to pressure from the Trump administration to accept Venezuelan deportees from the US, following visa curbs and threats of tariff hikes.
Yusuf Tuggar told privately-owned Channels TV that Nigeria had “enough problems” of its own and would not host foreign prisoners from the US.
“We already have over 230 million people,” the minister said.
“You will be the same person that will castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” he added.
“It will be unfair for Nigeria to accept 300 Venezuelan deportees,” he said, suggesting that the recent visa curbs on Nigerian travellers by the US was not “reciprocal” but a pressure tactic.
Earlier this week, the US Department of State said as part of a “global reciprocity realignment”, nearly all non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria, as well as those of Cameroon and Ethiopia, would now be single-entry and valid for only three months.
Brics is an alliance of 11 developing nations designed to challenge the political and economic power of the West. They are: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Nigeria is not a full member of Brics but it became the ninth partner country of the alliance in January.
Mr Tuggar said the threat of tariff hikes did not “necessarily have to do with us participating in Brics.
“You have to also bear in mind that the US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prison,” he added.
“It will be difficult for a country like Nigeria to accept Venezuelans prisoners into Nigeria. We have enough problems of our own, we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria, for crying out loud,” he concluded.
Instead, he said Nigeria was looking “to do deals with the US” because the country “possesses” a lot of gas, critical minerals and rare earths needed by American tech companies.
When further asked what Nigeria was doing to reach a diplomatic solution, the minister said the country was discussing with the US and resolving differences.
Mr Tuggar’s claim comes after the Wall Street Journal quoted internal documents and sources as saying the Trump administration was pushing the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon and Guinea-Bissau to accept migrants deported by the US whose home countries refuse them or are slow to take them back.
Trump also appeared to allude to this during the meeting with the five leaders on Wednesday.
“I hope we can bring down the high rates of people overstaying visas, and also make progress on the safe, third-country agreements,” he said during opening remarks.
Liberia’s foreign minister denied receiving such communication from Washington.