Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Rashid Bawa, says the required COVID-19 testing procedures for travellers to Ghana are not intended to harass and embarrass Nigerians.

On Tuesday, the Ghanaian envoy disclosed this during a courtesy call on Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).

His visit was against the backdrop of alleged maltreatment of a Nigerian who tested negative for COVID-19 in Dubai only to test positive on arrival in Ghana.

The envoy pointed out that while the COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test was mandatory, Ghana would not maliciously produce COVID-19 positive test results for visitors, especially Nigerians.

Mr Bawa expressed concern about the increasing number of underage Nigerian girls being trafficked to Ghana, saying more should be done to prosecute traffickers.

The high commissioner acknowledged that both countries had recently experienced some challenges, despite the long-standing bilateral relationship between them.

He added that one of such challenges was the tension between Nigerian and Ghanaian traders, adding a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both countries’ trade ministers to promote peaceful trade relations.

Mr Bawa explained that a joint task force was also set up to monitor the situation further.

The envoy stated that both countries would stop at nothing to fish out perpetrators of cybercrime and syndicates trafficking Nigerian female minors from Nigeria to Ghana for prostitution.

Receiving the Ghanaian envoy in her office, the NiDCOM chairman agreed with Mr Bawa that although the COVID-19 test was a requirement for visitors to Ghana, Ghanaian authorities “must ensure that visitors are treated with dignity, fairly, and humanely.”

(NAN)