The Federal Government has firmly rejected attempts by the United States to pressure Nigeria into accepting deported Venezuelans, including ex-convicts, amid a wider crackdown on undocumented migrants by the Trump administration.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday. He stated that Nigeria will not serve as a dumping ground for foreign nationals, particularly those being deported from American prisons.
“We have enough problems of our own,” Tuggar said. “It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”
His remarks came in the wake of President Bola Tinubu’s participation in the BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 6 to 7, 2025. On the summit’s final day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a fresh 10 per cent trade tariff on BRICS member nations, including Nigeria, China, and India, calling them “anti-American.”
Tuggar downplayed suggestions that Nigeria’s involvement in the summit triggered the tariff decision, instead linking U.S. pressure to broader geopolitical concerns.
“You have to also bear in mind that the U.S. is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the U.S., some straight out of prisons,” he noted.
He also confirmed that diplomatic engagements have begun with Washington over recent U.S. visa restrictions on Nigerians, and expressed regret over similar travel curbs imposed by the United Arab Emirates.
Nigeria formally joined BRICS+ as a partner country in January 2025, aligning with a bloc that now includes 11 member nations. Originally founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, BRICS+ has since expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, the UAE—and most recently—Nigeria.
Together, BRICS+ countries account for roughly 40% of global economic output and 37% of the world’s GDP, representing nearly half of the global population.
