Immigration officer ‘brutalises’ 19-year-old student in Ketu South

A 19-year old female Ghanaian student has allegedly been brutalized at Segbe by an official of the Ghana Immigration Service while crossing over to school in Togo on Monday, June 29, 2020.

The victim, Afi Pélogie Agbolossou, who is a Ghanaian from Denu in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region attends school in Togolese capital of Lome but was slapped and lashed by the GIS official who is part of a detachment deployed to the area since Thursday 18 June, 2020.

Speaking to the media in Aflao on Monday, the Paramount Chief and President of the Aflao Traditional Council, Togbui Fiti Amenya Adzongaga V, expressed displeasure and condemnation for the recent security insurgence and tension in the Municipality.

He said, “We woke up on Thursday 18 June, 2020 to the presence of a heavily armed security force but as I speak, as the overlord and the Paramount Chief of Aflao, I have not been briefed on the circumstances leading to this deployment to my area; thus I am calling on government through the MCE to explain to the people of Aflao what the military has come to do on their land.”

He cautioned that residents of the area may rise up if the government fails to withdraw the troops within a reasonable period of time.

“Since the closure of the border, economic activities have been halted leading to severe hunger among my people. Sadly, when the government was distributing food, they did that in Accra only.

I want to caution and ask the government to respect us and withdraw the troops to put an end to the needless brutalities in the area because my people are hungry and it is true that ‘hungry people fear no gun and so, we may be forced to rise if the government doesn’t do the needful,” he cautioned.

Togbui Fiti also intimated that the constant tagging of the people of Ketu South and the severe interrogation of its population as far as Ghana’s electoral is concerned is insulting and an attack on his chiefdom.

He said, “I want you to convey this message to the entirety of Ghana that the time has come for them to do thorough research work on who we are and my territory which extends even into Togo and Benin and so, therefore, I can’t disown my very sons and daughters resident in Togo.

I want to also appeal to the government to construct a visible border wall on the Ghana-Togo boundary to enable them to know the real Aflao people and its territorial landscape.”

Meanwhile, the victim of Monday’s alleged brutality told Starr News’ Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu that, she feels so much body pain as a result of the ordeal she went through on the border.

Another resident, a 56-year old trader, who commented on the issue said, “The presence of the security puts us in so much fear, so we are not able to go about with our daily trading activities. We can’t sell, we can’t enter Togo with foodstuff and so, we are hungry.”

Michael, who spoke to our reporter at the Aflao border also said, “I am a motorcycle rider; the closure of the border has affected us a lot but the presence of the military has made things worse. They stop and interrogate us anytime we carry passengers. It’s a worrying situation and so something must be done about it.”

The heightened security presence in the Municipality which has since generated a significant media reportage would remain a key issue amidst the compilation of the Electoral Commission’s new voter’s register.