Some 55 passengers onboard a DAF transit bus with a Nigerian registration number has been refused entry into the Togo side of the Segbe/Kpoglu checkpoint of the Ghana-Togo border.
The bus travelling from Ivory Coast en route to Nigeria arrived at the border since Sunday evening but has been denied entry by the Togolese officials on the other side.
A passenger onboard the bus told Starr News’ Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu on Wednesday that they are distressed and have run out of money since they did not budget for the delay.
“We are Nigerians and we are travelling from Ivory Coast but the Togo people have refused to allow us pass since Sunday. We are stranded and we are running out of cash because we didn’t prepare for this. We need the Ghanaian government to help us, so that we can get to our country,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, a negotiation with the Togolese officials by the MCE for Ketu South, Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, did not yield any instant result as the officers insist taking an action only after speaking with their superiors.
The officials however assured the MCE that they would collaborate with their Ghanaian counterparts at the border when they get a directive from their superiors.
The MCE noted that the continues denial of entry and passage by the Togolese officials poses a potential danger to residents and workers at the border, thus the need to allow them to go.
“We are not in any way suggesting there carrying any form of disease but we are in trying times and as far as they are on transit, I think it is prudent we allow them to go. Their continue stay at the border poses a lot of potential danger to both the Togolese and Ghanaian workers at the border,” he said.
Despite the closure of the Togo-Ghana borders to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, rumours are rift that some officials at the various entering points are cashing in on the situation by allowing people to use unapproved routes into the country.
A close source at the Segbe border post told our reporter that, motor riders around the border are used to transport people into the country through these routes in the night at a fee; a situation that he described as terrifying.
The Ghana-Togo border is believed to have over 200 unapproved routes, usually refered to as ‘beats’ that are developed on daily basis for the smuggling of goods in and out of the country.
Source: Ghana | Starrfm.com.gh | Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu