The chief of the Nigerian Igbo Community in Ghana, His Majesty Eze Dr Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu has urged the Ghanaian government not to hesitate in exercising the law.

According to him, Government must deal with Nigerians in the country who are guilty in accordance with the laws of the country.

He urged the Ghanaian authority to arrest, prosecute and mete out the appropriate sanctions to any Nigerian found to have engaged in any kidnapping case in the anglophone West African country.

Speaking in an interview on Class FM,His Majesty Eze Dr Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu said: “It is so bad for a Nigerian to be in kidnapping activities here in Ghana, even in Nigeria and all over the world,”

He added: “I am telling the Ghanaian authority, please, if a Nigerian is arrested for such acts, they should please implement the laws on that individual immediately without wasting any time after prosecution”.

He said if the legal punishment for such a crime “is to kill, is to jail them, the government authority should do it”.

In his view, a few criminal Nigerians are tainting the image of their fellow countrymen in foreign lands, a situation he described as appalling.

He, however, pleaded with the authorities in Ghana to desist from “generalising” and branding all “Nigerians as criminals”.

He emphasised that the majority of Nigerians are good and hardworking people who succeed in business and other ventures, and, therefore, noted that it was so bad that Nigerians would be found engaged in crimes in other countries and “this is giving Nigeria a bad name”.

The Igbo king emphasised that: “Nigerians in this country are not here to bring a problem to the people of Ghana. We are not here to destroy the country, Ghana. We are not here to bend the laws of Ghana but we are here to work hard and join our brothers, Ghanaians, to build this great nation that God has brought us here into, to live and do well here”.

He praised Ghanaians for their hospitality and added that Nigerians are happy to live in Ghana and “anything we will do to protect the image of this country, anything we will do to secure the image of this country, we will do it”.

He said they are ready and working “to identify the bad boys” and always advise their colleagues engaged in the act “to pack bag and baggage to leave this country else you will be arrested”.