Sixteen Fulanis from Niger arrested in Yendi

Sixteen Nigerien Nationals without travelling documents have been arrested and detained in Yendi by a team of Ghana Immigration officers.

The sixteen were arrested by the patrol team at about 10:00 hours over the weekend around the Yendi Central Mosque.

They are made up of 7 males and 9 females, including two children.

They include, Mandari Aouta Djadji, aged 25years, Kabo Gariba, 38years, Riya Kouyel, 41, Oro Matchido, 37,, Ballo Altine, 35, GueriMandari 25 and Bouja Djoumo 36 years.

They entered the country through the Wunjuga Catchment Area, in the Chereponi District of Northern Region.

The Yendi sector commander of the Ghana Immigration Service, Assistant Controller of Immigration, Mr Enoch Abrokwah Annor, who briefed the media in his office in Yendi, said upon interrogation, they claimed they were in the country to sell herbal medicine in the communities.

Mr Annor said apart from their national identification cards, they had no travelling documents that allow them entry into the country.

Accordant to the Assistant Controller of Immigration, his outfit suspects that they were in the country to settle because they came with their wives and children.

Mr Annor appealed to the Government to provide his outfit with the necessary logistics to enable it to work effectively, and urged the general public to always give out information on such people.

The Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Issah Zakaria, who is the Chairman of the Yendi Municipal Security Council (MUSEC), said because of the Ebola disease, as well as terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram, the security in the area must be vigilant to ensure that foreigners without approved travel documents are not allowed into the country.

Mr Zakaria said Yendi, is a commercial centre within the eastern corridor and so the Ghana Immigration Officers must always be on the alert to prevent such immigrants from entering the area.

He said the immigrants usually use Tatale, Saboba and Chereponi entry points to enter the Yendi Municipality.

He said the sixteen detained with their children would be repatriated through the Ghana/Togo Border at Nachemba in the Tatale/Sanguli District.

Mr Zakaria Said the MUSEC will be holding a stakeholders meeting soon with the District Chief Executives of Saboba, Chereponi, Zabzugu, Tatale/Sanguli, Mion and Yendi Municipal, Immigration Officers from the Eastern Corridor and the GPRTU of TUC.

He appealed to the Zongo chiefs to always inform the authorities about the presence of such foreigners in their areas.

He advised members of the GPRTU to stop transporting the immigrants into the country, and that, the vehicles transporting them will be detained and the owners prosecuted.