Nigeria will not accept Venezuelans deported from the United States—some reportedly released directly from U.S. prisons—because the country is already struggling with its own challenges, Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said Thursday.
Speaking to Channels TV from the BRICS summit in Brazil, Tuggar confirmed Washington has been “mounting considerable pressure” on several African nations to take in third-country migrants blocked from returning home. “With a population of 230 million, Nigeria simply cannot absorb Venezuelan prisoners,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump raised the idea during meetings this week with the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon, two officials told Reuters. An internal State Department memo cited by The Wall Street Journal asked African leaders to allow the “dignified, safe and timely transfer” of deportees from other countries.
The White House has not commented on the reported plan.
