The communities include Kayoro, Chiana, Nakolo, and Basiwo in the Kassena Nankana West District and Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality.

According to them, the fight against violent extremism may be defeated if security officials, particularly the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Immigration Service, did not stop what they described as “constant extortion and harassment of civilians.”

A move away from such acts, they said, would foster effective collaboration to combat the activities of violent extremists and ensure sustained peace.

The residents raised the concerns when the Upper East Regional Peace Council organized fora in the respective communities to build trust between the residents of the border communities and the security services in the fight against violent extremism.

It formed part of the Atlantic Corridor project being implemented by the Peace Council under the theme “Building Trust between security services and border communities through community forums,” aimed at preventing and responding to violent extremism.

The project is being sponsored by the governments of Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Australia through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Mr Charles Bruse, a resident of the Basiwo community, indicated that the hurdle with Immigration Officers in bringing in their food produce from their farms across the border was worrisome.

“Our farms are across the border, so normally when we farm and are returning with our produce, we are told by the Immigration Officers that we are importing it and for that we should pay, but they are from our farms, just that the demarcation made it fall outside Ghana, but they would still insist and collect money from us”, he alleged.

Madam Zuliala Wagidi, another resident from Basiwo, collaborated this, adding, “I was coming with my food produce on three tricycles, and not that they don’t know my farm is across the border, but they still demanded I pay GH¢30.00 for each of them, which is worrying”.

My Francis Wepea, a resident from the Kayoro community, indicated that “we have long been yearning for a programme like this because of the challenges we face, especially with regards to how police extort money from us in the name of helmets, number plates, and the like, and this does not make us trust them at all”.

Mr Jacob Agoatik, a taxi driver and resident of the Sandema community, indicated that due to the constant harassment, traders were compelled to use unapproved routes, “instead of the police conducting proper searches on strangers whenever we are coming with them into the community, they are always interested in taking money from us.”

Mr David Angaamba, the principal programmes manager of the Upper East Regional Peace Council, highlighted that the concerns raised formed part of the reason for the engagement, to create a mutual ground and trust between the security services and border communities, to help combat crime.

He underscored the need for the residents to collaborate with the security agencies in the fight against violent extremism to enable a conducive environment for development to flourish.

“The security agencies, on their part, must ensure cordial relationship between them and the civilians for effective collaboration,” he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Robert Ubindam, the Head of Operations, and Intelligence at the Paga Sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, said his outfit would work to ensure that the concerns and allegations of the residents were addressed.

“We have a common enemy, which is violent extremists, and that is why we need your support. When you see something and fail to say something and that person does something, it will be at the detriment of us all.”

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joseph Tibire, the Builsa North Municipal Commander of the Ghana Police Service, said it was illegal for any police officer to demand money from residents on the road and encouraged them to take note of those officers and report them to higher authorities.

Source: GNA  

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After weeks of fear, warnings, preparation, and hoping against hope, bombs and missiles were raining down; soldiers and tanks were on the move. Putin had unleashed his minions, who were now intent on destroying my homeland, my heritage, my family.

My name is Alex. I’m 34 years old and up until a couple of weeks ago, everything in my life was going great. For the last three years I have been living with the love of my life, my high school sweetheart, in an apartment in Kyiv. I landed my dream job — head of design for a non-profit arts publisher. We were putting as much money aside as we could from our jobs to finish paying off our apartment, make some renovations, and then splurge on a lavish wedding.

Then everything changed.

In the days leading up to the unprovoked attack on our country, we watched Russian troops amassing at the border. We heard NATO’s assessment that Vladimir Putin was just waiting for the right time to hoist his false flag and set his war machine in motion under the guise of a “rescue” or “liberation” mission. But you don’t want to believe such a nightmare is possible. Not on your own soil. Not so near your own home. Not when your fantasies are so close to coming true.

You cannot fathom that another human being would unleash death and destruction on innocent civilians, that real bombs would explode in your home town, and your neighbors will die. You hope it is a case of brinkmanship gone too far. A mistake. Cooler heads will prevail and the order to attack will be countermanded. But, it turns out, that was just an exercise in magical thinking.

Another explosion from outside our apartment at 4 a.m. shook me from my reverie. My fiancée told me we needed to fill our bags with whatever we could and leave.

We packed up our little car and headed west. The person dearest to me was shaking uncontrollably in the passenger seat. “Just go!” she wailed, as I drove. “Go until we get away from the bombs.”

I drove from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. while the love of my life slept fitfully next to me. I chose the longest route, the one most toward the center of the country, farthest from the encroaching invaders. It was a 22-hour ordeal. After driving for 12 hours, I was emotionally and physically exhausted, but we had miles to go before we can rest. My fiancée took the wheel and continued our journey for another eight hours.

We approach the Slovakian border at 3 a.m. My girlfriend’s sister lives in Prague, and she’d promised that she would offer us shelter. But as we approached the border, we were informed by the crowd that border guards weren’t letting any men pass; only women and children.

I prepared to kiss my love goodbye and send her to safety, but she refused to go without me. I am both extremely moved by her decision and racked with fear. I love her with all my heart. I do not want to be separated from her, but I also feel it is my duty to protect her. I may not be able to do that here in Ukraine, where we were now stranded on the wrong side of the border during a war. But we had no other choice. We had to stay.

On March 3rd, the local army office gave me an order to be ready on to go and fight on the 5th. The next day, I was given a delay until March 10th. The waiting and not knowing is perhaps the hardest part. Not knowing if I will eventually be sent away, if my girlfriend and I will part ways and never see each other again, is something nobody mentally prepares you for. The mind wanders as you contemplate your fate. Many of our friends and loved ones are in the same boat.

I’ve received word that my father has taken up arms and headed to the front lines to resist the invasion. His patriotism moves me, but the thought that he could be mowed down in the face of overwhelming firepower is too much to bear. We have too much to discuss. I need his advice for the future, and I want him to be there for my wedding and the birth of his grandchildren.

While I feel no pressure to prioritize my work, I find solace in occupying my mind with something familiar, so I have been doing what I can while I wait. I know I am not as productive as I was before Putin unleashed his hell. Nevertheless, I find that doing my job not only focuses my thoughts but also reminds me that there is good in the world.

But then my thoughts wander to the atrocities my friends and fellow Ukrainians are suffering. I see on my university friend’s social media that her town in northern Ukraine has been overrun. She says that Russian soldiers are committing war crimes.

As I write this, we are hidden in a small place that belongs to my friend’s parents. Though we are not on the front lines, we are trying to draw attention to the situation inside Ukraine in our own way. Russian propaganda attempts to hide the horrors of what’s happening in our country from Russian citizens. This is an information war, and we are fighting back with truth.

Until things change, this is where we will be and this is what we will do. We only hope that one day we can return to the life that we had been building before it was so abruptly torn away from us — and that when we do, we can piece our dreams for our future back together.

One African medical student told CNN that she and other foreigners were ordered off the public transit bus at a checkpoint between Ukraine and Poland border.

They were told to stand aside as the bus drove off with only Ukrainian nationals on board, she says.

Rachel Onyegbule, a Nigerian first-year medical student in Lviv was left stranded at the border town of Shehyni, some 400 miles from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

She told CNN: “More than 10 buses came and we were watching everyone leave. We thought after they took all the Ukrainians they would take us, but they told us we had to walk, that there were no more buses and told us to walk.”

“My body was numb from the cold and we haven’t slept in about 4 days now. Ukrainians have been prioritized over Africans — men and women — at every point. There’s no need for us to ask why. We know why. I just want to get home,” Onyegbule told CNN in a telephone call Sunday as she waited in line at the border to cross into Poland.

Onyegbule says she eventually got her exit document stamped on Monday morning around 4.30 a.m. local time.

Allegations of violence

Saakshi Ijantkar, a fourth-year medical student from India, also shared her ordeal with CNN Monday via a phone call from Lviv, western Ukraine.

“There are three checkposts we need to go through to get to the border. A lot of people are stranded there. They don’t allow Indians to go through.

CNN has been unable to confirm the identities or affiliations of the people who operated the checkpoints, but Ijantkar said they were all wearing uniforms.

Saakshi Ijantkar, a fourth-year medical student from India, also shared her ordeal with CNN Monday via a phone call from Lviv, western Ukraine.

“There are three checkposts we need to go through to get to the border. A lot of people are stranded there. They don’t allow Indians to go through.

CNN has been unable to confirm the identities or affiliations of the people who operated the checkpoints, but Ijantkar said they were all wearing uniforms.

They allow 30 Indians only after 500 Ukrainians get in. To get to this border you need to walk 4 to 5 kilometers from the first checkpoint to the second one. Ukrainians are given taxis and buses to travel, all other nationalities have to walk. They were very racist to Indians and other nationalities,'” the 22-year-old from Mumbai told CNN.

She added that she witnessed violence from the guards to the students waiting at the Ukrainian side of the Shehyni-Medyka border.

Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60 are no longer allowed to leave the country, but that decree does not extend to men who are foreign nationals.

Ijantkar says she saw Indian men were left in queues for long hours along with other non-Ukrainian nationalities.

“They were very cruel. The second checkpoint was the worst. When they opened the gate for you to cross to the Ukrainian border, you stay between the Ukraine and Poland, the Ukrainian army don’t allow Indian men and boys to cross when you get there. They only allowed the Indian girls to get in. We had to literally cry and beg at their feet. After the Indian girls got in, the boys were beaten up. There was no reason for them to beat us with this cruelty,” Ijantkar said.

“I saw an Egyptian man standing at the front with his hands on the rails, and because of that one guard pushed him with so much force and the man hit the fence, which is covered in spikes, and he lost consciousness,” she said.

“We took him outside to give him CPR. They just didn’t care and they were beating the students, they didn’t give two hoots about us, only the Ukrainians,” she added.

CNN contacted the Ukrainian army in light of the allegations of violence, but did not immediately hear back.

Freezing conditions

Ijantkar said many of the students waited for at least a day, but she eventually turned back to Lviv because she was terrified, waiting in freezing temperatures with no food, water, or blankets.

“I saw people shaking so terribly in the cold, they were collapsing because of hypothermia. Some have frostbite and blisters. We couldn’t get any help and (were) just standing for hours,” she said.

Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Border Guard Service of Ukraine told CNN Monday that allegations of segregation at the borders are untrue and that the guards are working under enormous pressure at the borders — but are working within the law.

“From the day when (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made an attack on Ukraine, the influx of people trying to leave Ukraine and the war zone has increased tremendously. If earlier, people trying to cross the border into the European Union and back amounted up to 50,000 (people) a day, now the amount doubled and continues to increase. There is huge pressure on checkpoints, on border guards.

“In order to speed up the process and allow larger amounts of people to cross, the government has simplified the procedure of the border crossing as much as possible. Due to the increase in the volume of the individuals crossing, people have to stay in long queues. However, I can state that everything happens according to the law. There is absolutely no division by nation, citizenship, or class at the border,” Demchenko said.

Ukraine attracts many foreign students wanting to study medicine because it has a strong reputation for medical courses and tuition — and other expenses are much lower than in programs in other Western nations.

Another stranded student told CNN on Sunday that border staff on the Ukrainian side of the border were showing prejudice against foreign students.

“They are depriving the foreigners. They are being very racist with us at the border. They tell us that Ukrainian citizens have to pass first while telling foreigners to stay back,” said Nneka Abigail, a 23-year-old medical student from Nigeria.

“It’s very difficult at the moment for Nigerians and other foreigners to cross. The Ukrainian officials are allowing more Ukrainians to cross into Poland. For instance, around 200 to 300 Ukrainians can cross, and then only 10 foreigners or 5 will be allowed to cross… and the duration of time is too long. It’s really hard.. they push us, kick us, insult us,” Abigail said.

Africans have been sharing their experiences online using the hashtag #AfricansinUkraine. Their stories have prompted an outcry and a number of crowdfunding appeals have been launched to try help those stranded in the country.

One of those who shared their story online is Korrine Sky, a medical student from Zimbabwe who had been studying in Ukraine since September.

She fled the country on Friday but, with the aid of two London-based friends, managed to raise more than £20,000 ($26,800) to help stranded Afro-Caribbean students.

“This situation we’re in is a life-or-death situation. We need to make sure that all the African students cross the border successfully and safely,” she said, speaking on Instagram Live from the Romanian side of the border on Sunday.

Around 500,000 refugees from Ukraine have so far crossed to neighboring European countries, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said on Monday.

Are home countries doing enough to help their citizens?

Some of those CNN spoke to said they did not blame the Ukrainian authorities for prioritizing their citizens but rather their own governments for not making arrangements to assist them out of the country.

The “Nigerian government is being their usual nonchalant self,” Onyegbule said.

“There are many of us in Ukraine. They can’t just leave us like this. It’s so sad but we are used to the bad governance in Nigeria. It’s very sad.”

Onyegbule acknowledged that there were Nigerian officials waiting to meet her and others once she crossed over into Poland.

“It would have been so helpful in Ukraine, we were looking for someone to speak on our behalf there.”

Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Twitter that Ukrainian authorities had assured him that there were no restrictions on foreigners wanting to leave Ukraine.

“Problem is the result of chaos on the border and checkpoints leading to them,” he stated, adding that he is “personally coordinating with our missions in Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Romania and Hungary to ensure we get our citizens out of Ukraine and bring back to Nigeria those ready to return while supporting those who are remaining in Ukraine.”

CNN has contacted Onyeama for comment on allegations that the Nigerian government hasn’t done enough to help its citizens leave Ukraine.

African nations on the UN Security Council Monday condemned discrimination against African citizens at the Ukrainian border during a UNSC meeting at the UN HQ in New York City.

“We strongly condemn this racism and believe that it is damaging to the spirit of solidarity that is so urgently needed today. The mistreatment of African peoples on Europe’s borders needs to cease immediately, whether to the Africans fleeing Ukraine or to those crossing the Mediterranean,” Kenyan Ambassador to the UN Martin Kimani said Monday.

Onyegbule, the first-year medical student, said she was attracted to study in Ukraine because she was looking for a “safe and cheap option outside Nigeria.”

“Generally living in Ukraine has been peaceful, it’s a beautiful country. Sometimes in the trams, people don’t want to sit beside you and they stare at you but generally, the Ukrainians are nice people,” she said.

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The vehicle entered Ghana through an unapproved route near the Nyive Border Post last Friday.

The incident happened on Friday, April 17, 2020 along the Hodzogah-Takla stretch of the frontier.

Assistant Inspector of Immigration, Felix Klu-Adjei, who is in-charge of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) Public Affairs in the Volta Region, disclosed the happening to the Ghanaian Times at the weekend.

He said it was after the Nyive GIS Sector Commander, Superintendent Justice K. K. Setordjie received an intelligence report concerning the activities of a cross border criminal syndicate who were about to strike at the border.

According to him, while the vehicle was being chased by personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service as soon as it crossed into Ghana from Togo, the driver and the two other occupants hopped off the it and fled into a nearby bush on the Ghana side of the frontier.

The vehicle was impounded and later handed over to the Custom Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

“It is believed that the vehicle was smuggled from Togo,” Assistant Inspector Klu-Adjei added.

In a related development, the Nyive and Shia commands of the GIS have since the closure of the frontiers intercepted five motorcycles from various unapproved entry points in the Volta Region.

The Government of Nigeria has extended the closure of its borders till January 31, 2020.

This was contained in a memo signed by Comptroller, Victor David Dimka, dated November 1, 2019, and sent to all officers at the borders, reports The Tribune newspaper of Nigeria.

The memo indicates that “despite the overwhelming success of the Operation particularly, the security and economic benefits to the nation, a few strategic objectives are yet to be achieved. Against this background, Mr President has approved an extension of the Exercise to 31st January 2020.”

The Nigerian government began closing its borders in August in an operation they term ‘Exercise Swift Response’. The operation according to the government, was to check the smuggling of illegal goods in the country.

The border closure, however, has affected many trade deals of its neighbours including Ghana.

Drivers who carry goods through the border have been stuck on either side for about three months.

This closure has reportedly cost Ghana’s largest local beverage manufacturer, Kasapreko, $2 million.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presented CFA450,000 to the Ghanaian drivers who are stranded at Seme-Krakue, a town on the Nigeria-Benin border.

The Deputy Finance Minister, Kwaku Kwarteng, on the other hand, says although the borders are closed Ghanaians on either side in the coming week would be given special passage.

According to him, there are also some discussions ongoing to make special arrangements that will cater for Ghanaians drivers stuck at the border till they re reopened.

Some traders in Nigeria are also lamenting about the effects of this border closure on their market.

Source; Myjoyonline.com

According to him, the rate at which some foreign nationals are involved in criminal activities in the country is alarming.

Dr. Oduro Osae made this observation on TV3‘s The Key Points on Saturday on discussions following the arrest of some three Nigerians who are suspected to have been involved in kidnapping two Canadian girls who were later rescued by security forces.

Addressing the issue, Dr. Oduro Osae underscored the need for stringent measures in ensuring that security at various border posts is stronger than what currently exists.

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“If we really want to catch up with what is happening [in the developed world], we have to be ahead of the criminals. My personal view is that we have opened our borders too wide. I think it is about time we managed our borders and system. Globalization is good, ECOWAS is good, but not to the disadvantage of the country.”

He added that citizens also ought to be sensitized and encouraged to give timely information to security agencies when issues of crime occur.

“It is about time we strengthened the relationship between citizens, security agencies and government. Security agencies thrive on information. The average Ghanaian is not security conscious.”

Dr. Oduro Osae also stressed on the need for informants to be protected by security agencies in instances where people volunteer information for perpetrators of a particular crime to be brought to book.

This, he said, will go a long way to encourage more people to aid the security agencies in dealing with crime.

“Protect informants. Ghanaians want assurance; that if we give you the information, you protect my identity,” he explained.

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In order for issues of crime to be properly dealt with for desired results, the governance expert further said security agencies ought to be better equipped to be ahead of criminals at all times.

Ghanaians ‘aiding’ foreign criminals

Also speaking on security issues on The Key Points show on Saturday, security expert Colonel (rtd) Festus Aboagye blamed some Ghanaians for helping foreigners engage in criminal activities without asking appropriate questions.

According to him, foreigners get into the country with no proper checks conducted on them, and they end up enjoying certain liberties with the aid of Ghanaian citizens, who give them easy access to certain places which ought not to have been easily accessible to foreigners.

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“Part of the blame is us Ghanaians.These Nigerians in the kidnapping of the Canadian girls, who rented that building to them? What kind of information did the landlord obtain from them?…that is part of the problem,” he stressed.

“Are there no laws that regulate employment of foreigners?” Colonel Aboagye questioned.

He called for a collaborative effort between the Ghana Immigration Service, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the police CID in clamping down on crime in the country.

Source: 3news