Violence has broken out in the border town of Hamile in the Lambusie District of the Upper West Region following allegations that a Ghana Immigration Service officer conspired with security operatives from Burkina Faso to kidnap the wife of a wanted Burkinabe national.
The unrest has led to the destruction of property and prompted heavy security deployment in the area.
Hamile West Assembly Member, Mohammed Fatawu, told Citi News that tensions began after residents learned of the alleged plot. He claimed the officer had monitored the woman’s movements to aid her capture.
“One of the immigration officers conspired with some security from Burkina Faso to kidnap one of our brothers. He too is from Burkina. He is wanted there. But currently he is in Côte d’Ivoire. So they were tracing to arrest him but they couldn’t find him. They also learned that his wife is also living in that village there. So they conspired with the immigration boss to kidnap that lady,” the assembly member said.
According to Fatawu, the woman was abducted on her way from Côte d’Ivoire through Nandom, sparking outrage. “The people believed she was being sent to be killed. They vowed to also kill the immigration officer or burn the offices,” he added.
He confirmed that protesters set fire to the officer’s pickup truck, phone shop, and a Burkinabe security operative’s motorcycle. He further disclosed that a woman named Mahamata collapsed and died from a blood pressure attack during the chaos.
Police and military reinforcements have since been deployed, though tensions remain high in Hamile.
Meanwhile, the PRO of the Ghana Immigration Service in the Upper West Region, Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul Mumin, told our reporter that security officials were in an emergency meeting at the time of filing the report and would provide an update afterwards.
