Motor rider attempts to attack Immigration Officer

Aflao, Oct. 25, GNA - An unidentified motor rider last Saturday night was alleged to have attempted slashing an officer of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) at Aflao with a machete but missed narrowly. The attacker was said to have fled the scene before the police arrived.

A Police Source told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on anonymity that the matter was under investigations and that the incident happened at around 1900 hours at Avakome, a suburb of Aflao. The attack was thought to be reprisal for the alleged shooting and hurting of an Aflao Taxi Driver by an immigration officer on Friday in a melee over infractions of border regulations.

The Friday incident led to wide mob actions that saw the youths in groups vandalizing some frontier infrastructure and equipment of GIS and shouting threats on the lives of its personnel. The borders were closed for a while and detachments of soldiers of the 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho and the Police Armoured Squadron rushed to Aflao to restore law and order.

Rampaging youth during the mob actions also barricaded roads, putting burning tyres at road intersections to stop vehicular movement. Police and GIS officers were generally frugal about information and would not talk further about circumstances of the shooting incident beyond what they had already said, stressing investigations were going on.

Some police sources however told the GNA that calm had returned to the township and that personnel of the GIS had been conditioned to be extra vigilant about their personal security. They also confirmed that Joseph Awuye 42, the driver, who was shot was in stable condition. Meanwhile police are providing security at the homes of GIS personnel in the area.