Trump Pressurizing Nigeria To Accept Venezuelan Deportees From U.S – Yusuf Tuggar

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar has revealed that President Donald Trump is pressurizing Nigeria to accept Venezuelan deportees from the United States.

Yusuf Tuggar, who disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, made it clear that Nigeria has no intention of giving in to U.S. pressure to accept deported Venezuelans.

The minister said Nigeria is already dealing with enough internal issues and can’t afford to take on more problems by serving as a destination for deportees from another continent.

He stressed that the country would not become a dumping ground for Venezuelan prisoners caught in the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

The statement comes just after President Bola Tinubu attended the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, alongside other global leaders from July 6 to 7, 2025.

On the final day of the summit, Trump announced plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on trade with BRICS nations he called “anti-American”, a list that included Nigeria, China, and India.

However, Tuggar suggested the tariff threat may not be directly tied to Nigeria’s participation in the summit.

He pointed to growing pressure from the U.S. on African countries to accept Venezuelan deportees as a likely factor in recent tensions.

Tuggar said, “The issue of tariffs may not necessarily have to do with us participating in the BRICS meeting.

“You have to also bear in mind that the US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prisons.

“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”

Tuggar also said that discussions are underway with the U.S. government regarding the recent visa clampdown on Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the Minister described the UAE’s new visa restrictions on Nigerian travelers as “regrettable.”

The visa situation has become even more challenging with a new U.S. policy that now limits Nigerians to single-entry visas valid for just three months.