Twenty-four out of the thirty-one foreign commercial sex workers in the Ellembele and Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region who were arrested by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) for engaging in prostitution have been convicted and sentenced.
After investigations, the twenty-four who were found guilty were convicted at the Sekondi District Court B on their own pleas, as they had been charged with Illegal Entry and Illegal Stay contrary to Section 20(1) and 52(1)(D) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573).
This was revealed in a statement signed by the Western Regional Public Affairs Officer of the Ghana Immigration Service, Assistant Inspector Moses Manford Akakpo.
The court, presided over by Her Honour Araba Nunoo(Esq), sentenced each of the suspects to a fine of GH¢1,000.00 and in default serve six months prison term.
The statement also indicated that the prosecution team, led by the Western Regional Legal Officer for the Ghana Immigration Service, Chief Superintendent Samuel Bilson, managed to secure deportations order for all the twenty-four suspects.
While eight of the convicts have managed to redeem their fines, giving way to administrative processes leading to their deportation back to their home country, the other sixteen convicted prostitutes have since been sent to the Sekondi Central Prison to begin their sentences, according to Asst. Insp. Moses Manford Akakpo.
He further said the Service was in the process of repatriating two of the suspects, who were identified during the investigations as having been trafficked, back to their home country to be united with their families.
“Also the two nursing mothers, together with the three main suspects, Mr. and Mrs. Okereke, all Nigerians and a Ghanaian, Mr. Kofi Bekoe, have been granted enquiry bail to enable the Service finish its investigations on them,” the statement continued.
The Western Regional Command of the Service expressed his profound gratitude to all stakeholders, “especially, those who continue to volunteer credible information leading to such arrests and successful prosecutions.”
The statement concluded by admonishing all and sundry to bear in mind that security is and will always be a shared responsibility.
Background
The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service on Monday, 16th October, 2023 informed the general public about the arrest of some 31 ECOWAS nationals suspected to have been involved in prostitution and other immigration related offences.
The arrest was as a result of a two-day intelligence operation, led by Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Emmanuel Dams of Axim Sector Command with Officers drawn from Axim and Mpohor offices of the Service on Saturday, October 14 with a swoop on a brothel facility and some adjourning drinking bars and makeshift structures within the Essiama enclave, resulting in the arrest of the suspects aged between 22 and 37 years.
