By Desire Emmanuel
Ghana Immigration Service officers have arrested 93 Nigerian nationals and rescued 73 victims of torture and abuse following an intelligence-led raid on a suspected internet fraud network operating from a residential estate in Accra, the country’s capital.
The operation, which targeted six houses at the DEVTRACO Estate, according to the immigration on its website on Tuesday, March 10, was carried out on Monday, March 9, by the service’s National Operations Unit under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Immigration Newman Akuffo.
Of the 93 citizens of Nigeria taken into custody, 91 are male and two are female. All of them are to face potential charges related to alleged involvement in internet fraud and immigration violations.
Investigators said some of the 73 victims had been subjected to torture and physical abuse by the suspects.
Items said to have been recovered from the premises included 82 laptops, 57 mobile phones, 17 television sets, counterfeit United States dollar notes, and fake gold bars, along with several household appliances believed to have been used to support the fraudulent operations.
Preliminary investigations also indicated that some of those arrested entered Ghana through unauthorised border crossings, while others overstayed the 90-day visa-free period available to citizens of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member countries.
The 73 rescued victims have since been repatriated to Nigeria while investigations are continuing at the Ghana Immigration Service’s National Headquarters to determine the full scale of the criminal network.
