Comptroller-General/ Samuel Amadu Basintale
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has secured convictions against five individuals for various immigration offences.
Two Nigerian nationals — John Moore, 20, and Charles Bruce, 21 — were each sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment (to run concurrently) after being found guilty of offences linked to human trafficking and romance scamming. Their conviction followed the rescue and repatriation of two victims, Joseph Atungwa and Cletus Tom Emmanuel, who had been lured into Ghana under the promise of lucrative employment by a kingpin, only to be handed over to the convicts for training in online fraud. The rescue, arrest, and investigation were carried out by the Ashaiman Immigration Command.
In a related development, three foreign nationals — Yusuf Mohammed, 26, a Nigerian radiographer; Mohammed Ogbona, 32, a Nigerian factory hand; and Nalvine Anne Fonjong, 31, a Cameroonian trader — were arrested at the Tema Passport Application Centre for falsifying information to acquire Ghanaian birth certificates and identity cards in an attempt to obtain Ghanaian passports. They were convicted by the Tema District Court and sentenced to 10 years, 15 years, and six months’ imprisonment respectively.
The GIS has reminded all foreign nationals in the country that there are legal ways of obtaining Ghanaian citizenship. Those who attempt to use unlawful means to secure Ghanaian citizenship will therefore be arrested and made to face the full rigors of the law, the Ghana Immigration Service has warned. Foreign nationals who are desirous of obtaining citizenship should contact the nearest immigration office for such assistance, the GIS added.
The GIS reiterated its commitment to rigorously enforce the country’s immigration laws in the interest of national security and development.