Nigerian travellers call for help as they face high isolation cost in Ghana

An exclusive video available to MyNigeria.com showed several Nigerians lamenting about how they were moved from the Kotoka International Airport in a convoy to an isolation center in East Legon, a suburb of Accra.

They identified the hotel as M Plaza Hotel.

The aggrieved travellers told MyNigeria.com that the Ghanaian authorities insist they tested positive for the Coronavirus in Accra despite taking and paying the mandated eighty thousand naira (N80,000) for a test in Lagos that proved they were negative.

According to Engineer Ezekiel Kachi, one of the isolated travellers, the process of testing was not convincing because they were not given a properly documented test result.

He explained further that the Ghanaian authorities lodged them in a hotel they could barely afford.

He said the daily 530 Ghana cedis or 52,000 naira was beyond their budget adding that the authorities failed to provide them with the option of a cheaper hotel knowing fully well the occupants will bear the cost.

"I'm Engineer Ezeh Kachi, from Nigeria, Igbo to be precise. I and my wife came here on the 25th of this month, which was on Wednesday for my honeymoon.

"Unfortunately, the Covid test the Ghanaians ran on me and my wife at the airport declared me positive and my wife negative. And I can't understand because I ran a test in Nigeria and we were declared Covid negative, and that was why we embarked on the journey," he explained.

In a WhatsApp voice note to MyNigeria.com, Mr Kachi confirmed to our reporter that he was released on Saturday, August 28, 2021, after his wife paid the hotel bill of one thousand seven hundred and twelve Ghana cedis (1,712GHS) for his three-night stay at M Plaza.

Meanwhile, another Nigerian man identified as Omoefe Ramsey has alleged that men of the Ghanaian Police Service have threatened to arrest him and his other colleagues after an altercation with a doctor at the center.

He said the policemen were invited at the behest of the doctor after a misunderstanding because they had questioned the approach of the medical team at the isolation center.

“The doctor threatened to arrest me and my friends because we were having a misunderstanding with him regarding his manner of approach. The police were here this morning, they said they will be taking us to the police station tomorrow after we have settled the hotel bills,” he said.

However, a high-ranking source within the Nigeria High Commission in Ghana has said the mission is doing its best to secure the release of Nigerian citizens who have “been held against their will” in the isolation center in Accra.

The top source who preferred to be anonymous said the mission is “already working with the authorities” to ensure the issue is settled.

Omoefe Ramsey tests result below show he tested negative for the virus before leaving Lagos: