You are here: HomeNews2021 04 24Article 434248

General News of Saturday, 24 April 2021

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Ghanaian authorities take bribes from suspected Nigerian criminals - Nigerian chief alleges

Nana Kessington Oledo, Chief of the Nigerian community in Kasoa, Ghana Nana Kessington Oledo, Chief of the Nigerian community in Kasoa, Ghana

Nana Kessington Oledo, a chief of the Nigerian community in Kasoa, a town in the Central Region of Ghana has disclosed that some members of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service accept bribes from suspected Nigerian criminals who have been arrested in the country.

According to him, the act has set many Nigerian criminals free instead of keeping them behind bars, and that has resulted in the continuous involvement of these criminals in crimes in the country.

“You see, this is a very delicate issue and like you said, references have been made to Nigerians particularly, which are very true because when you go to Kasoa, you see instances where; like I was with the chief of police at Millennium City and he told me: ‘Chief, you have to do something about this; every 10 reported cases at the police station is 6/10 of Nigerians’. You have six cases of Nigerians in every 10 cases reported at the police station; why is that so?’

“From my observation and analysis, I noticed that when you see people and notice that these people are unqualified to live in our society but you can’t take the opportunity [to deal with them] because you are making some corner money from it, then you are constituting a nuisance to the society yourself,” he complained.

“What I suggest is this: let us improve our services for the Ghana Immigration Service and Police Service so that when you get somebody, a Nigerian, particularly, because I’m a Nigerian chief in Gomoa Bantama, please don’t collect money from them. All because they want to give you GHS500, so, today you feel good because they want to give you some money. If they are wrong, please, let them face the law. Anybody at all, prosecute the person, send the person to court”.

“At the end of the day, the cases that are being reported, are they taken to the court? How many of them have been sent to the court?” he asked.

He mentioned an instance where some arrested Nigerian criminals were made to pay an amount of money for their release, adding that, the lives of Ghanaians and good citizens of other countries living in Ghana will be endangered if the act continues.

He continued: “A couple of days ago, the Immigration Service went to arrest certain people there; at the end of the day, they are supposed to detain them or possibly prosecute them or deport them to Nigeria or repatriate them but I’m sorry to say, but it’s the truth; they say: ‘OK, go and bring GHS1,000, GHS2,000’.

"At the end of the day, you take the money and you send these same people, who are following people in the society, back into the society and endangering the lives of other citizens in the community”.

The Nigerian chief urged the Ghana Immigration Service and Ghana Police Service, to “let us put more effort in what we do. You are doing very very well, but we can do better and if we do better, please let us follow the law. We have laws, rules and regulations in Ghana, we should follow them and not do bypass them.”