98 illegal immigrants from Togo, Benin rounded up in Volta Region

The police on Tuesday rounded up 93 Togolese and five Benin nationals who allegedly entered Ghana through unapproved routes in a compound house at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho.

The Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) E. Oduro-Kwarteng, told the Ghanaian Times in Ho yesterday that the swoop on the suspects followed a tip-off.

He said the suspects included 19 women.

“For now, we are screening and profiling them, after which we will liaise with the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) for their possible deportation or prosecution,” the Regional Police Commander said.

According to DCOP Oduro-Kwarteng, preliminary investigations revealed that some of the suspects had been living in the country for the past 10 months.

“Others have been here for five months and some others for two weeks,” he added.

The Regional Police Commander told the Ghanaian Times that an elderly neighbour who no longer put up with persistent noise by the immigrants and their suspicious behaviours alerted the police.

During interrogation, the immigrants claimed that they were cyber network experts but they were unable to produce documents to support their claim, DCOP Oduro-Kwarteng revealed.

He reminded landlords to insist on proofs of identity from prospective tenants.

DCOP Oduro-Kwarteng warned that any local who assisted any foreigner to enter the country through unapproved routes would not be spared the rod.

The border, he said, was still closed and for that reason, personnel of the various security agencies were highly vigilant along the frontier.