The altercation between some police officers at Weija and personnel of the Immigration Service at Sakaman in Accra, was the result of a mixup, the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police, ASP Afia Tenge has said.
“There was some miscommunication. For me, what I see is that there was no coordination of the arrest,” she said on Eyewitness News.
The immigration officials had just completed an operation at Mcarthy Hill, where four suspected Nigerian cybercriminals were arrested when they were confronted by some police personnel.
Sharing the Police’s side of the story for the first time, ASP Tenge explained that the police thought the immigration personnel may have been fake officers.
She said the police were responding to a report from a distressed caller who claimed that some soldiers were terrorising residents.
When the police got to the scene, they tried to ascertain the identity of the four immigration officials but they were not forthcoming, she said.
“But according to the Immigration Officers, they weren’t going to give them that bit of information and that if there were any questions, they should follow them to the district assembly, per the police account,” ASP Tenge said.
The immigration were traveling with the suspects in a service vehicle and one taxi cab and the police followed in a taxi cab
“On the way, to the surprise of the police, there was a misdirection or there was a diversion because the intended route that they could have used; they had diverted onto a different route that made the police suspect they might not be immigration officials.”
The police then chased the immigration officials and called for reinforcements, ASP Tenge continued.
When they caught up with the immigration officials “the police also made sure the suspects were now in their custody so they could send them to the next available detention centre.”
Checks were then made till the police were sure of the identity of the immigration personnel and then the suspects were later released back to the immigration service.
Also speaking on Eyewitness News, Michael Amoako Atta, the PRO of the Immigration Service questioned why the responding police didn’t arrest the immigration personnel if they were suspected to be persons posing as soldiers.
“You do not arrest them but rather you free suspects who are here illegally engaged in criminal activities detrimental to the peace and safety of the nation,” Supt. Amoako Atta quizzed.
He also stressed that the police personnel had simply behaved unprofessionally by attacking them.
“The best thing to have done was to enquire from the commander of the immigration team and to be briefed on who they were but you do not do any of these things but go straight to attempt to release suspects who are illegally in the country.”
“If the police had behaved professionally, things wouldn’t have gotten to the extent they did… As an inspector, you do not, in public confront a superior officer. It is rather good we handle this within our walls.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa | citinewsroom.com | Ghana