More Ghanaian evacuees arrive from E.Guinea

Accra, March 15, GNA - The third batch of 41 Ghanaian evacuees from Equatorial Guinea were this afternoon air lifted to Accra. Three injured ones were sent to the 37 Military Hospital while the others were sent to the BNI for screening.

The evacuees, who GNA spoke to claimed they were rounded-up together with Senegal, Cameroun, Nigeria and Mali nationals under the pretext that they did not have valid immigrant document.

According to Frederick Arthur, 45, who has been resident there for 14 years and was working with the University of Malabo as a security man, he was rounded-up from work on Saturday and detained at the central police station till Monday morning and was not allowed to take along his belongings.

"They did not even allow me to go home and bid my wife and children farewell let alone take my belongings to the police station." He said while in detention they were fed by relatives and officials from the Ghanaian consulate.

Frank Odum, 42 years said he was attracted to Malabo when he heard of the booming oil business.

He said for two years he had been a construction worker. He acknowledged that those who were molested were mainly those who tried to resist arrest, adding that some of the citizens of Malabo looted their properties when the foreign nationals were arrested in the exercise.

An official of the evacuation team said this could be possibly the last air lifting of evacuees from Malabo and that the rest would come by sea.

They were met on arrival by Air-Vice Marshall Eddie Mantey, Airforce Commander.