Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, has rejected the United States’ request to accept Venezuelan deportees, including prisoners, from the US.
Gatekeepers News reports that Tuggar stated that Nigeria has its own domestic challenges and cannot serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.
“We already have over 230 million people. It will be unfair for Nigeria to accept 300 Venezuelan deportees,” Tuggar said in an interview with Channels TV.
“You will be the same person that will castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria.”
The US has been exerting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelan deportees, some straight out of prisons. However, Tuggar emphasised that Nigeria will not comply with such demands.
“We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria, for crying out loud,” he added, quoting the famous US rap group Public Enemy: “Flava Flav has problems of his own. I can’t do nothin’ for you, man”.
The US embassy in Abuja has denied that the visa restrictions are a form of punishment, citing “technical and security benchmarks” that need to be respected.
Meanwhile, Tuggar said Nigeria is looking to do deals with the US, leveraging its gas, critical minerals, and rare earths needed by American tech companies.
Tuggar also addressed the US’s new visa policy, which imposes stricter requirements for non-immigrant visas, stating that the claim of reciprocity is false. He assured that Nigeria is discussing with the US to resolve differences and find a diplomatic solution.
