An Accra High Court, Land Division, will on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, hear two ex parte applications filed by 11 deportees of West African Nationality challenging their detention in Ghana following their deportation from the United States.
The applicants seek an interim injunction to halt their deportation to their home countries and a writ of Habeas Corpus, compelling the government to present them before the court and justify the basis for their detention.
The interim injunction seeks to restrain that process, while the Habeas Corpus writ requests a formal order directing the government to produce the applicants in court.
The eleven individuals include Daniel Osas Aigbosa, Ahmed Animashaun, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, and Taiwo K. Lawson, all Nigerians; Kalu John, a Liberian national; Togolese nationals are Zito Yao Bruno and Agouda Richarla Oukpedzo Sikiratou, while Sidiben Dawda- a Gambian national, and Malians Toure Dianke and Boubou Gassama.
Ghanaian government has agreed to accept West African nationals deported from the United States, and 14 have already arrived in the country.
The deportations are part of the US government’s hard-line approach towards immigration since President Donald Trump took office in January.
At a virtual sitting, the Presiding Judge Justice Priscilla Dikro said she would require more time to examine the applications before making a ruling.
Mr Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Counsel for the applicants, said the matter was urgent, indicating that his clients had been unlawfully detained.
They have also sued the Attorney-General, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service at an Accra High Court, Human Rights Division, insisting their fundamental rights have been violated.
In affidavits supporting their case, the applicants claim they were secretly removed from U.S. detention centres between September 5 and 6, 2025, shackled, and forcibly transported to Ghana without prior notice or explanation.
Upon arrival, they alleged, they were handed over to Ghanaian authorities and confined in what they believe to be a military facility without access to due process or judicial oversight.
The applicants argue that their detention breaches Article 14(1) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which guarantees personal liberty, as well as Article 23, which protects the right to administrative justice.
They further contended that the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending refugees or asylum seekers back to countries where they risk persecution or torture, has been ignored.
Mr Barker-Vormawor said at least eight of the applicants had previously been granted “Withholding of Removal” or “Deferral of Removal” under the U.S. Convention Against Torture (CAT) proceedings, which forbids their deportation to their home countries due to the risk of torture, inhumane treatment, or persecution.
They are asking the High Court to enforce their rights under Article 33(1) of the Constitution and to grant them immediate protection consistent with Ghana’s constitutional and international human rights.
The court will hear the interim applications on September 23, after which the substantive case on the enforcement of their fundamental rights will be considered.
