Family of murdered immigration officer demands justice

A Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officer stationed at the Hamile Border post in the Upper West Region has been shot dead by unidentified persons.

Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 (AICO I) Michael Ekow Otoo who was with the Hamile detachment of Operation Conquest Fist was shot at about 5 am on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, in Kokoligu-Bekyiiteng, a community in the Nandom Municipality.

He met his untimely death while on night duty patrolling the border with Burkina Faso.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the officer had six gunshots from the rear by his attackers largely suspected to be smugglers.

His family which got the news of his death on social media is demanding justice for Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo.

The family is in a dilemma about breaking the news to Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo’s wife, Abigail who was hospitalized two days before the sad incident and is yet to be informed.

Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo and the wife have a daughter who is one and half years old.

A community member who spoke on condition of anonymity explained that they heard a gunshot at about 5 am.

“We heard the gunshot. We didn’t know someone was shot. Later in the day, we heard one of the Immigration officers on patrol was shot and killed. This route is one of the many unapproved routes highly used by smugglers to cross into Burkina Faso,” he said.

Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo was using an all-terrain vehicle (quad bike) during his patrols when he was shot and killed and his body dumped under a bridge and the bike and his uniform were kept under tree shrubs.

The Regional GIS Command, in a statement, said that at about 6:15 pm on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, the Nandom Police Command picked information that an Immigration Service Personnel was shot dead at Kokoligu, a village between Nandom and Hamile.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the officer had six gunshots from the rear by his attackers largely suspected to be smugglers.

“It was further established that the fallen officer might have had a struggle with his assailants preceding his slain”.

“His body was hidden under a bridge whilst his motorbike and helmet found some 100 meters away from his remains,” the statement read.

The body of Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo has been deposited at the St. Theresa’s Hospital in Nandom awaiting a doctor’s report.

The statement added that the weapon of the slain officer was taken away from him by the assailants.

Meanwhile, Officers of the GIS, Defense Intelligence, and Police are calling for calm and asking the general public to volunteer information that will lead to the apprehension of the culprits.

In March 2020, an Immigration Officer with the Hamile border post was also shot at by smugglers and had to be flown to the 37 military Hospital for urgent medical attention.