Nigeria cannot take Venezuelan fortress from us, Yusuf Tagger says

Nigeria will not be putting pressure on the Trump administration to accept Venezuelan Decorty or third-country prisoners from the US. Foreign Minister Yusuf Tagger has made a vow.

“In the words of the famous American rap group Public Ainming… the line of Flava Flav – a member of the group – “Flava Flav has his own problem.

“We already have over 230 million people,” the minister said.

His comments follow the threat from Washington, which limits visas and raises tariffs in countries that do not comply with its deportation policies.

“It's unfair for Nigeria to accept 300 Venezuelan dispatchers,” he said. Recent visas suggest that US suppression of Nigerian travelers is a pressure tactic rather than a “reverse” one.

“If you acquiesce to accept Venezuelan prisoners in Nigeria, you will be the same person who denies us,” he added.

Last year, the list of BRICS members expanded beyond the original groups in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Nigeria is not a complete BRICS member, but it became its ninth partner country in January.

Tuggar said the threat of a tariff hike “is not necessarily related to participating in BRICS.”

“You also need to keep in mind that the US is putting considerable pressure on African countries to accept that Venezuelans will be deported from the US.

“It is difficult for a country like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners in Nigeria. We have sufficient problems for ourselves. We cannot accept Venezuelan decorties in Nigeria.

Instead, he said Nigeria was looking for “to do business with the US.”

Furthermore, when asked what Nigeria is doing to reach a diplomatic solution, the minister said the country is in discussions with the US and is resolving the differences.

The newspaper said before Wednesday's White House Summit, the US government had already sent requests to all five countries to accept immigrants who have been expelled from the US.

It is not clear whether any of the five West African countries have accepted the demand.

Liberian Foreign Minister Sarah Bethorou Nyanti denied any involvement with Washington and told the BBC's Newsday program on Thursday.

“We are not discussing exiles or criminals coming to Liberia.”

Nevertheless, Trump appeared to be hinting at the proposal during his meeting with the five leaders.

“We hope that we can reduce the high fees for those exaggerating visas and advance the third country agreement as well as safe and advance the third country agreement,” he said during the opening.

At least four other African countries reportedly were courted by the United States to bring deportees. They are Benin, Esvatini, Libya and Rwanda.