Federal Government said has it facilitated release of 39 Nigerians arrested for illegally entering Ghana.

It said the citizens would be repatriated home during the next evacuation exercise.

Nigerians in  Diaspora Commission, in a post on its Twitter handle on Tuesday, said the citizens were arrested at Aflao border trying to enter  Ghana illegally.

It stated, “About a month ago, Nigerian Mission in Ghana got a call on the arrest of six Nigerians caught at Aflao border trying to enter Ghana.

“The Nigerian consular team was dispatched by the High Commission to intervene immediately, and on getting there, they met with about 30 more Nigerians arrested for also trying to enter Ghana through illegal routes due to border closure.”

The consular team was said to have appealed to the immigration officials not to prosecute the culprits.

“The officials agreed and allowed the team to get their details to secure approval from the appropriate authorities for them to be evacuated along with stranded Nigerians, as Ghanaian immigration would not permit them to proceed into Ghana because of the border closure,” the statement said.

NiDCOM further explained that the mission staff paid two visits to the detainees before they were released, adding that they will be required to take Covid-19 tests before evacuation.

It further said that the citizens would be brought back to Nigeria after taking the test in line with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control protocols.

The statement read, “There are in total about 50 Nigerians detained by the Ghanaian immigration authorities because some were moved away from Aflao and kept somewhere else.

As instructed by NCDC, they need to do their Covid-19 tests before returning to Nigeria.

“As soon as this is done they will return with the next set of returnees.

“However, it should be noted that 11 of the detainees have  escaped, according to Ghanaian immigration.”

Punch