Diasporan Ordeal with the Ghana Narcotic Control Board---A Case of Injustice

Much as I applaud the Ghanaian government for their zealousness in combating the drug menace in Ghana, I think it should be done in a proper manner so that the fundamental rights of Ghanaians and suspects worldwide are not trampled. I have lived in the United States for 17 years and so I am not new when it comes to what illicit drugs can do to human health and society at large.

Not too long ago, my father passed away in Ghana and so it was a necessity upon me to come home and join my brothers both home and abroad to arrange for his proper burial. I arrived in Ghana 4/20 on Delta Airlines. By the grace of God the funeral was a successful one. My father, Elder Samuel Yeboah popularly known as Agya Sam was one of the founders of the Methodist Church at Wamfie in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.

May 18, was the day for my departure. At the Kotoka International Airport, I went through all the check points until I got to the Narcotic Control Board. At this point, I was singled out by one of the personnel of the NCB for thorough scrutiny for reasons I still have not come to terms with. First, I was asked to provide urine sample which I obliged but because I had not eaten that morning I could not get him a urine sample. My flight was 9:30 AM. He asked me to sit down and get myself together to provide him a sample else I would not be leaving for he could see heroin in my system albeit without X-ray. He spoke harshly to me and ordered me about inhumanely. By the grace of God, I had a bottle of water on me so I asked his permission to drink the water peradventure I get him what he wanted which he agreed. Ultimately I got him what he wanted. You know how urine sample is obtained, they usually stand very close to you to monitor your movements and to me that creates uneasiness. Guess what, he put a sample of my urine on a small tray, I guess it was a small lab gadget and told me I tested positive for heroin.

At this juncture, my bags that were already in the plane were brought out at his command. Together with my bags, I was moved from gate one to gate two several times without explanation. I thank God for the strength he provides. You need enough energy to carry your bags around from one place to the other at the airport. Finally he made me to take an X-ray test at the airport. Surprisingly, he did not tell me the results of the X-ray test. In the course of this ordeal, attempts to get him to tell me his name after introducing myself as Peter Oppong proved futile, so I was compelled to take a picture of him with my iphone. This infuriated him such that he seized my phone and left me incommunicado from the outside world.

Eventually I was taken to the NCB office in Accra and detained for 4 good days (May 18-21) while they monitor my toilet. I was allowed to close the door to the toilet I was using but not the main door to the washer room as I was being monitored. I remember one Dickson at the office who did the toilet monitoring to see if I would expel pellets of heroin. Of course I did not. For all these 4 days, I was not permitted to shower. I could only use wet towel to clean myself and that was when my family could finally get access to me. I could only get food to eat at the mercy of those who were put in charge to monitor me. Regular food provision was not a routine. I had to ask for it when I needed it and I must say that I am grateful to those personnel who were on duty those days. One of such persons I remember was one Becky. I had to rely on my family to supplement what they gave me. My cell phones had also been seized which meant I could not call anybody out of my confines.

At the office, I refused to be interrogated and requested to speak only through an attorney. For another incident which I will not disclose here for brevity of this story, I had already had an encounter with an attorney in Accra so I arranged for my brother to bring him over. He sent his law partner, a very nice lady who came to the office to oversee the search of my bags as the police had requested to search them. Upon the search they found "Nyame ahyira so" literally "what God has blessed". For my readers "Nyame ahyira so" is a herbal medication prepared at Edumfa, an endorsed prayer Camp of the Church of Pentecost in the Central region of Ghana. The attention now shifted from my system to the herbal medicine after the X-ray had proved nothing wrong with me.

Edumfa is a very beautiful prayer Camp led by one Auntie Grace, popularly known as 16. This place is thronged by people of all walks of life. I converted to Christ and baptized at Edumfa in the year 1989. The district pastor in the area at that time was one Pastor Oppong and so one way or the other Edumfa has become my spiritual home.

The police suspected the "Nyame ahyira so" that I had to be heroin or cocaine of a sort, so they handcuffed me and drove me in their car all the way to Edumfa. The leaders of Edumfa were very surprised that the police would come all the way from Accra to Edumfa, after all a pellet of "Nyame ahyira so" is sold for only 2 Ghana Cedis, notwithstanding they were well received by Auntie Grace and her team.

Inspector Sovor did not even know that Papa Mensah had been adjudged the best cocoa farmer in Ghana for the year 1995. Usually heroin and cocaine are not sold this cheap. After explaining to my captors what the herbal medicine does, they were generously given some quantities for their personal use which they gladly accepted. On top of this, you know Auntie Grace and her generosity; she gave each of the team that took me to Edumfa some money which they gladly accepted. Happily Sister Rebecca gave me more of the medicine free of charge for my troubles. My brothers and sisters, as if this did not satisfy the curiosity of the police led by Chief Inspector Sovor at the NCB office, the sample they took from my bag, they still sent to the Ghana Standard Board for lab test. The day at Edumfa was Thursday, May 21. It took the police 10 good days after visiting Edumfa to get the results of the test which gladly proved negative.

May 31, will ever be recorded in my memory. It was the day that my captors let go of me. They gave me back my passport, Laptop, iphone and the other unlocked cell phone that I had on me on the day that I was arrested. I asked them for a copy of the test results which they refused. It will interest you to know that, the police did not even apologize for what they had done to me nor pay for my ticket back to America for making me miss my flight. At least in the States here, time is money and I know those who have busy schedules in Ghana recognize this fact.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the Narcotic Control Board;

1. Trampled on my fundamental human rights with impunity.

2. Refused to arrange and pay for my flight back to the United States. I had to pay $250.00 more as a penalty for missing my flight on May 18.

3. From May 18 to 31, my family and I went through psychological and emotional pain

4. My name and reputation have been drugged to the mud

5. To date, my name has not been restored to my employer's pay roll as it was deleted for 'no call, no show" Remember at the detention, my phones were seized from me. Thank God I have my job back, notwithstanding I have not been paid since I came back. Meanwhile, I have a mortgage, a wife and five children under my roof.

6. My stay in Ghana from May 18 to June 3 was not at their expense. I had dispensed all my money in Ghana before the day of departure. Again remember I had come for my father's funeral so imagine the funeral expenses and the grief at that time.

My intention here is not to provoke public anger and displeasure against the NCB nor seek a huge compensation from them, but to seek justice and to prevent this from happening to anybody. I have not heard about similar stories of injustice meted out to travelers at the airport by the NCB, but I am quite sure other persons have gone through this horrific situation that occurred to me. The other sad thing was that, on the day of my final departure which was June 3, the same person that caused me grief was at the Airport doing the same job that he was doing. At least I was expecting his superiors to pull him aside for some days and retrain him. Persons of his sort are the ones who are dragging the progress of Ghana behind. I expect him to read Apostle Alfred Koduah's book titled "Who is Disturbing the Nation?" Let me say prophetically that the caliber of people like this cannot hold the progress of Ghana back and that whether the devil likes it or not Ghana shall move forward and that we shall live to our true creed to become the black star of Africa. I am someone who loves and pray for Ghana. In 1993 when I came to Ghana, I made a full payment of my student loan that I took when I was in Legon. I believe this is a sign of patriotism.

As mentioned earlier on, much as I applaud the Ghanaian government for combating the drug menace in Ghana, I think it should be done with a human face, after all the NCB people are there for the public good and the same courtesy should be accorded travelers who go through our Airports. In the meantime, I have asked my Attorneys in Ghana to seek redress on my behalf through legal mediation as a first step.

Elder Peter Oppong, COP Boston, Massachusetts, BA (Hons) University of Ghana, Legon, MBA University of Phoenix, USA

Koppong23@gmail.com or kennedyoppong@hotmail.com