11 persons jailed for breaching immigration laws

An Accra High Court has convicted and sentenced 11 persons prosecuted by the Ghana Immigration Service, for various immigration-related offences in the country for the first half of 2019.

The 11 comprise three Ghanaians, seven Nigerians and a Cameroonian.

The non-Ghanaians would be removed from the country after serving their sentence and paying their fines.

The offences include illegal stay in the country, possessing and attempting to use forged document, restricting and obstructing an Immigration Officer, and attempting to obtain Ghanaian passport by false declaration.

The convicted persons are Ehikoya Israel Eigbibhahu, Achioneg Amos, Fortunatus Chibuike Opara, and Patrick Obinna Ennu.

The others are, Prince Boateng, Kwasi Buami, Akanmu Dayo Jegede and Simon Baziri.

The rest are Victor Itobiye, Achioneg Amos also known as Amos Kotei, Sonnia Ezeike and Ades Favour also known as Adesukan Michael Adeyemi. 

Ehikoya Israel Eigbibhahu and Achioneg Amos were sentenced to a total of nine months in prison with hard labour, and additional 45 penalty units fine for Achioneg Amos.

They pleaded guilty for possessing Ghanaian Passport by false declaration and forged academic degrees from the University of Cape Coast and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as well as living in the country illegally. Ehikoya Israel Eigbibhahu would serve three months whiles Achioneg Amos will serve six months in prison.

Fortunatus Chibuike Opara who pleaded guilty for attacking and obstructing an Immigration Officer in the line of duty at Kasoa in the Central Region and for entering and staying in the country illegally was sentenced to a fine of 450 penalty units on each count and was removed from the country after payment.

Patrick Obinna Ennu and Akanmu Dayo Jegede were slapped with a sentence of six months in prison with hard labour for possessing a forged South African passport and a forged Italian Residence Permit Card, respectively, and for attempting to use these documents to travel.

Prince Boateng, Kwasi Buami, Simon Baziri, Ades Favor and Sonnia Ezeike were sentenced to six months in prison each with hard labour and a total fine of 1,135 penalty units for obtaining travel documents by false declarations and for possessing and using these forged documents for various transactions.

These include obtaining a Hungarian Visa with fake birth certificate, acquiring Spanish Visa with fake Stanbic Bank Statement, travelling on forged Sierra Leonean Passport, obtaining a Ghanaian Passport with fake birth certificate and travelling on a forged Ghanaian Passport.

Victor Itobiye was sentenced to one month in prison with hard labour for attempting to acquire a Ghanaian Passport by false declaration.  

The GIS admonishes all non-Ghanaians to desist from obtaining Ghanaian Passport, Birth Certificate and any other identity document of the country by false declaration. It is an offence, punishable by the laws of the country to indulge in such acts.

It further wishes to urge all foreign nationals in the country to be law-abiding.