8 Ghanaian Stowaways Smoked Out

Four of the stowaways
EIGHT GHANAIANS who attempted to stowaway from the Tema Port to France to seek greener pastures in Europe have been arrested by port officials.

The suspects were found in two separate cargo containers which were being loaded onto a France bound vessel.

The stowaways who claimed to hail from the Western Region of Ghana were grouped into two; four in each cargo container by their collaborators.

Items that were found along with them hidden in the containers were bags of bottled water, a sack of gari, energy drinks, tin fish and milk, black polythene bags in which the group intended to defecate into, among other items that were to make life comfortable for them on the long journey.

Each of the stowaways was reported to have paid GH₵3,200 fee to their collaborators to be smuggled into the container after disguising as casual workers.

Two of the suspects were said to have nearly suffocated after hiding in the container for a day and quickly punched a hole at the top of the container to let in some fresh air for their survival.

The suspects, still not feeling comfortable decided to widen the hole to increase the flow of air into the container. This caught the sharp eye of some of the workers who reported their suspicions to the authorities leading to the arrest of the would-be stowaways. The container supposed to be shipped out of the port last Monday night.

Colonel Timothy Bataa-Banaah, the Tema Port Security Service Manager told DAILY GUIDE that the arrest came at the time management has tightened security at the port to make it unattractive to stowaways, pirates and other maritime criminals.

He disclosed that the eight suspects have been handed over to the Marine Police at the Tema Regional Police Command to be processed and charged for court.

He said port authorities have also initiated investigations into the matter to uncover how the stowaways get into the containers to punish the staff who might be found culpable.

Tema port has from January to August this year foiled attempts by about 74 people who wanted to stowaway through the port, Colonel Bataa-Banaah revealed. He added however that 10 people have succeeded in stowing away.

About a month ago some eight Nigerians who attempted to stowaway were nabbed by the Tema Port security personnel. Earlier some 8 Nigerian pirates were also nabbed by the security.

The Managers of the Port Security hinted that it will not leave any stone unturned to make Ghana's ports the most secured in the sub-region.

From Vincent Kubi, Tema