Five Nigerians Held In Ghana Over Murder ChargesBy

Sunday Orisakwe and Francisca Asoh

FIVE Nigerians are being detained in Ghana for attempted murder of a lady who was half Nigerian and half Camerounian. The Nigerians are Victor Ogwezz, Mathias Ohonsi, Freeman Okonkwo, Dotun Oluyomi andZeni Nwaeze. At a press conference in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Chris Ogbechie, managing director of Contact Marketing Services, said the five Nigerians are staff of his company in Ghana. He observed that the Nigerians are being held over a trumped-up charge.

According to him, the premises of their companies - Contact Marketing Services and Media Monitoring Services - located at No. 688/3, 2nd Crescent, Asylum Town, Accra, Ghana, was raided by a contingent of six armed police men from Divisional Police HQ, Naima, Accra, on December 11, 1999. He explained that the police arrested everybody present including local staff of the two companies who areGhanaians. The police proceeded to search the whole house and took away a Toyota Corona car, an official car belonging to the General Manager of Contact Marketing Services, two Mobile telephone sets, about one hundred million cedis (sales proceeds), unknown sums of naira and dollars belonging to the persons held. They also took the companies' cheque books, ledgers and numerous other documents.

"The police, five days later, obtained an order of an Accra Community Tribunal to remand the Nigerians in custody till 20 January, 2000 without the court sighting the accused persons. They were not brought to the Tribunal because they were unsightly as a result of intense torture and dehumanization," Ogbechie said. To him, the most worrisome is that these young Nigerian professionals are not guilty of what they are accused of in any way.

The chief executive said that the Nigerians received inhuman treatment while in police custody. "They were moved from one police torture chamber to another and were denied access to medical care. On why he thinks his workers are being persecuted by the Ghanaian police, Ogbechie said there is a strong anti-Nigeria feeling in Ghana. "The belief in Ghana is that every Nigerian is rich. They also believe that any crime committed in Ghana is by a Nigerian. And there is this deep hatred against Nigeria. The Ghanaians will openly tell any Nigerian that they are going to avenge what Nigeria did to Ghanaians in 1983 when Nigeria asked Ghanaians to leave," Ogbechiesaid. The chief executive said the song of hatred is also championed by the Ghanaian press. He said radio stations like Joy FM have also been taking turns to express anti-Nigeria sentiments on air.

Although the five Nigerians have been bailed, he declared they are afraid of being harassed and molested by Ghanaians as a result of negative press report linking their case to several killings in Ghana. "They cannot also leave Accra because they are on bail and their travel documents have been impounded by the police," Ogbechiestated. On what the Nigeria High Commission in Ghana has done so far for the Nigerians, Ogbechie said the High Commission, through its consular officer, Mr. Abikoye, engaged diplomatic channels in the bid to secure freedom for the Nigerians and has been helpless in the face of the unfolding intrigues by the Ghanaian police.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the company has lost close to two million naira in revenue. The chief executive of the company said letters had been written to those in authority to save the lives of the five Nigerians through political intervention at the highest level. Among those that have been written are the Executive Secretary of the ECOWAS and Amnesty International in Ghana. Ogbechie called on the Federal Government to set up a panel to ascertain how many Nigerians are languishing in Ghanaian cells.

MARTIN'S COMMENT: For the safety of Ghanaians in Nigeria, the Ministry of the Interior should clarify the position regarding these accused Nigerians without delay. The clarification should be sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ghana High Commission in Lagos so that it can be passed on to the Nigerian press, preferably at a news conference where questions from the Nigerian press can be fielded. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case, this Ogbechie chap is using it to incite Nigerians against Ghanaians in a most dangerous and unprincipled manner. To use the case of a few individuals to allege that " There is a storming anti-Nigerian feeling in Ghana" is certainly most unfair.