International
Deported Nigerian Claims Ghanaian Officials Abandoned Him in Togo
A Nigerian man deported from the United States to Ghana has alleged that he is now stranded in Togo after Ghanaian authorities secretly transferred him and five others across the border without informing Togolese officials.
According to on Wednesday, the man, who spoke anonymously, said he was initially held at a military camp in Ghana after being deported last month along with other West African nationals. He claims Ghanaian officials promised to relocate them to better accommodation but instead covertly transported them into neighbouring Togo via a back route.
“They did not take us through the main border; they took us through the back door. They paid the police there and dropped us in Togo,” he said.
The group, which includes three Nigerians, a Liberian, and others, is now sheltering in a hotel in Lomé, the Togolese capital. None of them have valid documentation, and they are relying on hotel staff to help receive financial aid from relatives abroad.
“We’re struggling to survive in Togo without any documentation,” the man told the BBC. “None of us has family here. We’re just stuck.”
He said life in the Ghanaian military camp was “deplorable,” citing poor water, lack of medical care, and harsh conditions. After complaints to authorities, the group was told they would be moved to a hotel. Instead, they were driven to the Togo border and allegedly coerced under false pretenses.
“When we arrived [at the border], we asked what we were doing there. They told us we needed to sign some paperwork to go to a hotel. We didn’t sign anything,” he said.
The man also shared the personal toll of his deportation. “I have a house in the US where my kids live. How am I supposed to pay the mortgage? My kids can’t see me. It’s just so stressful.”
He is reportedly a member of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, an organisation campaigning for an independent Yoruba nation in south-west Nigeria. He fears persecution if forced to return to Nigeria and claims he had court-ordered protection in the US, which should have prevented his deportation. The US government has not publicly addressed this claim.
The deportee was part of a larger group of West Africans — including citizens of Liberia, The Gambia, and Togo — who were flown from US detention facilities to Ghana last month. Human rights lawyers representing the group have filed legal action against both the US and Ghana, citing violations of international protection and due process.
Ghanaian officials, including Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, have defended their decision, saying Ghana accepted the deportees based on “pan-African empathy” and denied receiving any financial compensation.
However, the deal — announced by President John Mahama — has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers, who are now calling for its suspension until it is properly reviewed and ratified by parliament. Despite the controversy, the government is reportedly preparing to receive an additional 40 deportees.
As the legal battle unfolds and diplomatic pressure mounts, the fate of the stranded deportees in Togo remains uncertain.
International
Zimbabwe Wins UN Security Council Seat for 2027-2028
The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.
Zimbabwe has been elected to a non-permanent, two-year term on the United Nations Security Council, the third time the country will be represented on the body mandated to maintain international peace and security.
Voice of Nigeria reports that the other countries that secured seats around the iconic horseshoe table are Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kyrgyzstan.
The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.
Austria and Portugal won the two seats allocated to the Western European and other States (WEOG) Group, while Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe were elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group and the African Group, respectively.
Kyrgyzstan secured the Asia-Pacific seat after defeating the Philippines in four rounds of voting.
International
Finland’s president says EU should expand to 40 states — including Canada
His comments come as the Trump administration’s actions, alongside Russia’s war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
• Finland’s president Alexander Stubb
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has stressed the need for a much larger European Union, saying the 27-nation bloc should increase its membership to 40 states and named the U.K., Canada, Turkey, Norway and Iceland as potential candidates to join.
Stubb made the call at an energy conference in the Finnish capital on Wednesday.
His comments come as the Trump administration’s actions, alongside Russia’s war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
Stubb told the Eurelectric Power Summit that “the window of opportunity” for EU enlargement “is quite short because when the war in Ukraine ends and perhaps when the U.S. administration changes, I don’t know, then people are going to take their foot off the gas pedal and start heckling about unnecessary stuff again.”
Stubb added that “European strategic autonomy or European geopolitical power” is “often based on size and scale and I think the best European policy ever has been European enlargement.”
“In this moment, we need to think big and geographically, we need to enlarge or at least create memberships which are flexible enough to bring in a sum total of 40 European states — or even non-European,” Stubb said.
Finland’s president said the EU should look to its western flank and bring the U.K., which left the bloc in 2020, back into the fold, or at least “as close as possible
.”Canada should be considered as another option, Stubb said. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if Canada was the 28th state of the European Union rather than the 51st state of the United States?”
International
Iran Kuwait’s airport attack injures 63
Health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 25 ambulances were dispatched at Kuwait International Airport, adding that “63 injured individuals were received and distributed among hospitals.
Today Wednesday June 3: Kuwait International Airport was hit by Iranian drones.
An Iranian attack on Kuwait’s airport wounded at least 63 people on Wednesday, the health ministry said, with authorities earlier reporting one person killed.
Health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 25 ambulances were dispatched at Kuwait International Airport, adding that “63 injured individuals were received and distributed among hospitals.
This includes serious injuries… including head wounds, cerebral hemorrhages, amputations and injuries resulting from explosions.”
An airport source told AFP that the death in Kuwait was an Indian national at the airport.
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