The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) says it has rounded up thirty one ECOWAS nationals suspected to be engaged in prostitution in the Ellembele Municipality.
A statement from the service which was signed by the regional Public Relations Officer, Asst. insp. Moses Manford Akakpo said members of a syndicated suspected to be engaged in human trafficking were also arrested.
The following is the full statement;
The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), through its Axim Sector Command, has rounded up a total of thirty-one (31) ECOWAS nationals, including a syndicate suspected to be engaging in prostitution and Human Trafficking within and around a notorious brothel, under the guise of Bafana Bafana Beach Resort, in the Ellembele District and Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.
The two days intelligence lead operation (Saturday, 14th – Sunday, 15th October,2023) begun in earnest at 02:30hrs with a swoop in on the said brothel facility and some adjourning drinking bars and makeshift structures within the Essiama enclave, resulting in the arrest of the suspects, aged between twenty-two (22yrs) and thirty-seven (37yrs) years.
The operation, which lasted several hours, led to the arrest of seventeen (17) suspects/victims, including the owner and manager of the facility, Mr. Kofi Bekoe, sixty-two years (62yrs) at the first instance.
Subsequently, the other twelve (12), in addition to the two (2) suspected Human Trafficking collaborators were picked up in two separate mop-up operations later on Saturday evening and early Sunday morning.
In all, the over thirty hours (30hrs) of sustained operation saw to the arrest of twenty-eight (28) suspected prostitutes, includingtwo (2) nursing mothers.
The other suspects were the two (2) suspected Traffickers, Mr. Ndubueze Okereke, 37, and his wife, Ifeoma Okereke, 35, all Nigerians, with the exception of Mr. Kofi Bekoe, who is a Ghanaian and the host, among suspected Trafficking syndicate.
This particular operation was planned and successfully carried out with the support from the authorities of the above-mentioned assemblies, owing to the growing concerns of the nefarious activities, especially by some of the foreign nationals within the said communities and the impunity with which the brothel operated.
A search conducted as part of the investigations revealed that all the suspects entered the country illegally and, therefore, were without passports or any other travel identification documents. Further search on them and the premises exposed packs of used and unused condoms, especially in the rooms.
In a related development, the same Mr. Kofi Bekoe was arrested some months ago and granted bail in order to continue with the investigations into a case of harbouring foreign nationals engaged in prostitution, contrary to Act 29 of the Criminal Code of 1960, Aliens’ Registration Regulation 1974 (L.I. 856) and Section 13 of the Immigration Service Act 2000 (ACT 573), among other relevant legislations in Ghana.
Meanwhile, the suspects are currently in the custody of the Western Regional Command Headquarters for further investigations, prosecution and subsequent repatriation to their country.
The operation was led by the Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Emmanuel Dams, of Axim Sector Command, with officers drawn from Axim and Mporhor offices of the Service.
The Service is by this statement averting the minds of Landlords and property owners across the country to be mindful of the existence of the above stated laws and its consequences by checking and confirming the immigration status of all would-be foreign tenants before renting out their properties to them.
The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, in its quest to sustain this exercise into the future, seizes this opportunity to encourage all its stakeholders, i.e. Law Enforcement Agencies, Chiefs, Opinion Leaders, Community Members, Border Residents as well as Transport/Canoe Operators to continue supporting its operations in order to ensure maximum security for both the indigenes and the foreign community in the region.
