The Labour Division of the Accra High Court has scheduled Tuesday, September 23, 2025, to hear applications filed by eleven West African nationals challenging their detention in Ghana after being deported from the United States.
The applicants are seeking two orders: an interim injunction to prevent their deportation to their home countries and a writ of Habeas Corpus compelling the government to justify their continued detention.
At a virtual sitting on September 18, presided over by Justice Priscilla Dikro, the judge indicated that she needed more time to review the applications before ruling.
Lawyer for the detainees, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, argued that their confinement is unlawful, stressing that some of them had been granted protection under U.S. Convention Against Torture proceedings, which bar deportation to countries where they face risk of persecution.
The eleven include nationals of Nigeria, Liberia, Togo, Gambia, and Mali. They claim they were forcefully transported from U.S. detention facilities earlier this month and handed over to Ghanaian authorities, who confined them without due process.
They maintain that their detention violates Ghana’s constitutional guarantees of personal liberty and administrative justice, as well as international human rights obligations.
The High Court will hear their applications on September 23 before deciding on the substantive case.
