Kwame Asuah-Takyi
The Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Kwame Asuah-Takyi, has underscored the need for international collaboration to counter security threats in the West African sub-region.
He said the above during a workshop organisedfor senior officers from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College made up of Nigerians, Togolese, Tanzanians and South Africans during a study tour of the GIS in Accra.
Security, he said,is critical in national development and so no government cannot afford not to invest in it.
He bemoaned the level of insecurity at the sub-region’s maritime borders where according to him “the Gulf of Guinea accounted for 43% of maritime insecurity in the world,” adding “piracy on high seas is on the ascendency which is greatly affecting international trade.”
Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration, Command Post and Operations (DCGI/Ops), Laud Afrifa, in his presentation themed ‘Border Security and Collaboration with Sister Countries’, addressed Ghana’s border security strategies, successes and challenges.
He advised that the fight against cybercrime should not be considered xenophobic. Instead, he recommended that countries acknowledge that it was in their best interest to join hands in the fight against cross border crimes.
He said the visit of the officers was a step in the right direction. The participants were taken through the mandate, structure, functions and regulatory framework of the GIS.
The presentation brought out the various threats at the borders, the strategic responses to mitigate these threats, and the benefits of international collaboration in border management and the fight against cross border crime.
On COVID-19,Afrifa said the pandemic further complicated the challenges of porous borders across West Africa, adding that “even though there was a consensual closure of borders across West Africa, we all faced the menace of illegal migrants and the possibility of importing the virus through our borders.”
He shared Ghana’s success in intercepting and returning several of such immigrants through strengthened border and rigorous checks at inland checkpoints across the country.
Leader of the delegation, Director of Maritime Warfare, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Nigeria, CommmodoreKehinde John Odubanjo, affirmed the need for shared learning and intelligence in tackling security in the sub-region since we share similar challenges. He was grateful for the warm reception accorded them and the sharing of experiences in border management and the fight against cross border crime. He hoped for continuous cooperation between Nigeria and Ghana.