More Ghanaians Evacuated from Equatorial Guinea

Accra, March 14, GNA - A second batch of 41 Ghanaian evacuees from Malabo in Equatorial Guinea were on Sunday airlifted to Accra in an Air Force plane, following unrests in that country after an attempted coup. The evacuees, who where all men, told the GNA that the situation in that country was tensed and that there were unconfirmed reports that some Ghanaians might have been killed.

Among the evacuees was a sick man who was sent to the 37 Military Hospital while the others were taken to the BNI for screening. They told the GNA that most of them were doing gardening while others were construction workers, drivers and watchmen and that they had lived in that country for periods spanning a few months to two years. One of them, 40 year-old Noi Odoom, who was a gardener, said the police rounded them up wherever they found them and that some of them went into hiding in the bush.
"When you are caught, your money is collected and you are whisked off to the police station without being allowed to take your property," said another evacuee, who said he was a cabbie.
The 53-year-old cabbie said he had to abandoned his business as a result of the unrests.
According to him Ghanaian children in Equatorial Guinea were safe because apart from the fact that they were very few, most of them had one of their parents who were nationals of that country, adding that children who needed refuge easily found it in the Ghanaian Consulate. The evacuees, whom the GNA spoke with, vowed never to return to that country even if the situation normalizes.
Some of them expressed reservations about the response of the Ghana Mission, saying its officials were not swift in coming to their aid when the crises erupted.
They however, lauded the government's move to evacuate them home, saying the lives of the remaining Ghanaians in that country were in danger.
Mr Asomaning Odei-Mensah, Deputy director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in charge of Relief and Reconstruction, said the organisation would give the evacuees some money for transport to enable them travel to their various hometowns after screening.
Mr Appiah-Kubi, a deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign affairs, said about 300 Ghanaians had sought refuge at the Ghana consulate in Malabo with about the same number in hiding. He expressed the hope that with time those in hiding would go to the Consulate to be flown back home.
The first batch of 37 evacuees, including a woman, was flown home on Saturday.
The next batch is expected tomorrow, according to official sources.