Immigration Officers Beat Up ‘Okro Mouth’ ..Over Human Trafficking Expose’

Following this paper’s expose’ that Immigration officers at the Kotoka International Airport aid some recruitment agencies into trafficking unsuspecting youngsters to some Arabian countries for a fee of Gh300 per every traveller, the officers last week Thursday vented their spleen on one of the Airport officials, beating him up over suspicions that he blew their lid.

The Fraud Unit Immigration officers numbering of about five chased Daasebre Kwabena Ahenkorah, an Assistant Division Officer from the Boarding Room, to the Departure entrance; where he was pushed unto the ground to lie prostrate; searched thoroughly and bolted away with his phone after he had suffered hefty blow in the hands of the officers, the New Crusading GUIDE gathered.

Narrating his ordeal to this paper, Kwabena Ahenkrah said: “It was about 5pm when I saw about six youngsters coming towards me at the airport. They asked where they could get the Turkish Airlines, so I asked them where they are going and they said Lebanon. I asked them where they came from and they said they were Kayayei's from Agbogbloshie.  Looking at them they looked very young so I asked them to go and bring their agent, they went out to bring a certain gentleman. When the guy came he said he was actually not an agent but they were his sisters and he had only come to see them off. I asked how they managed to get the boarding pass and they said they had gone to the fraud unit at the immigration to pay GH300 each, then I asked them to go and bring those immigration officers”.

“Few minutes after went out”, he continued, “they came back in the company of three immigration officers. They were escorting them to the boarding gate when I intervened to ask why they had not properly interrogated the youngsters to know if truly their ages corresponded with what was on their passports. They ignored me and said I had nothing to do with immigration operations so I should shut up. I picked up my phone, and I wanted to make a call, one of them saw me and thought I had taken pictures of them , so they started chasing me”.

Deputy National Security coordinator at the Airport, W.O (ll) Frempong confirming the report, during an interview with this reporter said he had even intervened to get back the seized phone of the fellow KIA officer, but all attempts proved futile as the immigration officers vanished into thin air, after the attack.

Police officers at the KIA, as at the time of filing this report said although they had been able to retrieve the phone from the immigration officers, they were still under investigations for further action.

Meanwhile, officers from the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), had picked up about fifteen of the travellers suspected to be under aged, with their agents for investigations.