Nigeria rejects US pressure to accept Venezuelan deportees

Summary

• Nigeria declines US request to take in Venezuelan deportees, including prisoners
• Minister Yusuf Tuggar says the country will not be used as a “dumping ground”
• Stance aligns with growing African resistance to externally driven migration policies

Abuja, Nigeria – Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has stated unequivocally that the country will not accept deported Venezuelan nationals from the United States, including individuals with criminal records.

Speaking during an interview on Politics Today aired on Channels Television on Thursday, 10 July, Tuggar said Nigeria “cannot serve as a dumping ground” and would not yield to external pressure.

His comments come in response to reports that the US, under the Trump administration, is pushing some African nations, Nigeria among them, to accept Venezuelan deportees, some of whom are reportedly being released from American prisons or are linked to criminal activity.

“It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said, emphasising that with a population of over 230 million and its own economic and social challenges, Nigeria is not in a position to absorb migrants with no historical or legal ties to the country.

The development reflects a broader resistance among African leaders. The president of Guinea-Bissau, for instance, has also stated that his country would only accept its own citizens deported from the US, rejecting any attempt to resettle foreign nationals within its borders.

This diplomatic pushback coincides with a wider shift in US immigration policy, which includes the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for several nationalities, including Venezuelans, and the introduction of tighter visa restrictions that have affected many ECOWAS countries. Tuggar previously criticised such policies as detrimental to trade and regional diplomacy.

Public sentiment in Nigeria has largely supported the minister’s stance, with many describing the US proposal as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and an undue strain on already limited resources.

Nigeria’s firm position is likely to resonate with other developing nations facing similar demands, and signals an increasingly assertive foreign policy aimed at safeguarding national interest in the face of global political pressures.