11 deportees from US sue Ghana over alleged unlawful detention
The Labour Division of the High Court in Accra has set Tuesday, September 23, 2025, to hear two urgent applications filed by eleven West African nationals who say they are being unlawfully detained in Ghana after being deported from the United States.
The group is seeking an interim injunction to block their deportation to their home countries and a writ of Habeas Corpus to compel the state to bring them before the court and justify their continued detention.
At a virtual sitting on Thursday, September 18, Justice Priscilla Dikro said she needed more time to study the applications before ruling. Counsel for the applicants, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, pressed the urgency of the case, insisting his clients were being held without lawful basis.
The applicants argue that President John Dramani Mahama has already announced their deportation, a move confirmed by the Foreign Affairs Minister. Their legal team contends that the state’s actions amount to arbitrary detention and a violation of their fundamental rights.
The eleven include Nigerians Daniel Osas Aigbosa, Ahmed Animashaun, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, and Taiwo K. Lawson; Liberian national Kalu John; Togolese nationals Zito Yao Bruno and Agouda Richarla Oukpedzo Sikiratou; Gambian national Sidiben Dawda; and Malians Toure Dianke and Boubou Gassama.
They have sued the Attorney-General, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, insisting their confinement breaches the 1992 Constitution.
In sworn affidavits, the group claims they were secretly taken from U.S. detention centers between September 5 and 6, shackled, and flown to Ghana without explanation. On arrival, they say they were handed over to Ghanaian authorities and locked up in what they believe to be a military facility, without access to court or due process.
Their lawyers maintain the detention violates Article 14(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees personal liberty, and Article 23, which ensures administrative justice. They also argue that the principle of non-refoulement has been flouted. This international rule prohibits returning individuals to countries where they face persecution, torture, or inhumane treatment.
Lawyers further note that at least eight of the applicants had previously been granted “Withholding of Removal” or “Deferral of Removal” under U.S. proceedings linked to the Convention Against Torture, which bars their return to unsafe countries.
The deportees are therefore asking the court to enforce their constitutional and international human rights protections under Article 33(1) of the Constitution and to order their immediate release.
The High Court will first consider the interim applications on September 23 before proceeding to hear the substantive human rights case.