48 alleged ‘terrorists’ missing? – Police, Immigration Service in blame game over their whereabouts

Confusion has erupted over the whereabouts of 48 foreigners who were arrested in connec­tion with alleged terrorism and other fraudulent acts in September, last year.

While the police claimed the suspects were handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Ejisu Municipality to deal with them, the latter insists the police handled the matter.

A police source at the Ejisu Divisional Police Command told the Ghanaian Times in a follow-up exercise that the operation to arrest the suspects was carried out by the GIS.

But the Ejisu Commander of the GIS, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI), Alfred Niiboye Lartey, when contacted on phone, also claimed the suspects were dealt with by the police.

“Please go to the Police for whatever information you want be­cause we handed over the suspects to them, “ he indicated.

It is believed the suspects had been let loose since there had not been any details of prosecution or repatriation.

It is recalled, that 21 of the sus­pects were arrested on September 22, while the remaining 27 were ar­rested on September 24, 2022 in a special operation, which story was carried by the Ghanaian Times .

They were said to be from Ni­ger, Nigeria, Kenya and Mali.

The arrest was made at Ekyem, a community in the Ejisu Municipal­ity, based on a tip-off.

And, investigation was focused on whether they had links to any terrorist group, following recent terrorist acts in some of the neighbouring countries.Some of the suspects were placed in police custody at Fumesua and others at Donyina and Ejisu.

Throwing more light on the in­cident earlier on, the Assemblyman for Akokoamon-Achiase-Ekyem electoral areas, Daniel Owusu, said the community members had observed the “suspicious activities” of the suspects over a period and, therefore, decided to report them to the police for further investiga­tions.

He said they did not know what exactly was happening in the house but “you will always see them mak­ing calls for hours in the evening”.

“Out of curiosity, I entered the house one day and asked them of their mission, but they claimed they were learning because the place is a school”.

The move, he said, followed the “See something, say something” campaign being spearheaded by the National Security as a citizens’ awareness campaign aimed at pro­tecting the country against terrorist attacks.

He said the 27 suspects had rented five bedrooms of a storey building while the 21 were also occupying a 13-bedroom house, both at Ekyem.

A search in their rooms saw some teaching boards and docu­ments.