2. The sad aspect of the ADM Opinion commentary stated that, "this was not the first time that Nigerians have been named in Ghanaian armed robbery. Indeed they feature more or less as the master minds"

3. While the Nigerian High Commission does not in any way condone criminal activities being perpetrated by its citizens here or in Nigeria, it however considers such heinous behaviours as individuals actions, and such persons if caught must be made to face the full rigours of the law. Your write-up gave the impression that Ghanaians are being taught the act of armed robbery by Nigerians.

4. Whereas there have been several reported cases of armed robberies in Accra, Kumasi and other parts of Ghana by the Ghanaian newspapers of recent and which severally were carried out by Ghanaian nationals. Criminal activities cannot be ascribed to a particular people or country as empirical evidence has shown that all societies have their own bad nuts.

5. The High Commission has noted your caption as preaching xenophobic agenda against its nationals, as it sought to suggest and shift blames of the armed robbery on Nigerians. But how can one explain when four people of two nationalities committed crime yet the blame had been placed on particular nationals while the citizens of the other country are exonerated. Furthermore, you are castigating these nationals as nuisance to the Republic of Ghana and its people.

6. Your caption no doubt was a call for Ghanaians to take up arms against their Nigerian brothers, especially if the victim were to have been a Ghanaian national, which would have been a recipe for violence and instability in the sub-region.

7. The High Commission wishes to congratulate the peace loving people of Ghana who ignored your war call, believing that the sub-region has had enough share of crises and conflicts aside the burden of maintaining peace.

8. Your management need not to be reminded that there are many Ghanaians in Nigeria as there are many Nigerians in Ghana who have been residing in both countries for many years and have made such their homes. Ghanaians in Nigeria are regarded as brothers and even though there have been reported cases of some of them involved in armed robberies, murder and other vices, Nigeria attributes such acts to individuals and never called for such xenophobic agenda against Ghanaians in view of our long time relations.

9. We need not also remind your management that in the present civilized world nations treat each other and its people with respect and guide against statements that might breach such protocol, and so, the use of foul language such as the one your management used as "...most despicable individuals from the sub-region, especially from Nigeria..." can only come from uncivilized minds who dream that its nation can survive on its own as against interacting with one another and its people. The High Commission expects nothing short from your management than the retraction of this statement used against Nigeria and its people in the light of our long standing relations.

10. The High Commission is however pleased to note that the Accra Daily Mail in its opinion stated that "...there is no perfect society, and we all have our fair share of social deviants...", which acknowledges the existence of the Ataa Ayi's, and other notorious armed robbers recently arrested in Kumasi by the Ghanaian Police, and some drug traffickers who conceal heroine in Christian books for exportation.

11. "ECOWAS or no ECOWAS?" No! Your management got it wrong, ECOWAS main objective is the integration of the sub-region politically, economically and the provision of security etc. ECOWAS devises strategies for the development of the sub-region and it has been the contributing factor in the maintenance of peace and security in the sub-region as can be seen in the efforts of Nigeria and Ghana in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote D'ivoire. Without ECOWAS, the sub-region could have been enmeshed in perpetual conflicts, but with ECOWAS we can devise strategies to curtail armed robbery, terrorism and drug trafficking etc but not the other way as your management advocates.

Thank you.

Nigeria High Commission 19 Akosombo Street Airport Residential Area Accra-Ghana

Editor's Note

It pains us that the Nigerian High Commission is reacting this way to the genuine concern we expressed over such a highly troubling phenomenon like armed robbery. If the officer in charge of making such "rejoinders" at the High Commission had read our editorial carefully, he would not have come up with this rather embarrassing "rejoinder".

We still stand by the concerns expressed in the editorial and for the avoidance of doubt, we invite the official who sent us the unsigned "rejoinder" to check the records at the Ghana Police and Narcotics Control Board for more details and he/she would realize that what we wrote was fair comment in the public interest.