4 ARMED COPS ARRESTED IN TOGO Sources allege operation was in connection with biometic registration

By: Samuel Agbewode, Zuikpe-Togo
The Togolese police arrested four Ghanaian police personnel at Nyetey in the Republic of Togo at the weekend, for what the Togolese police described as a 'breach of international security and invasion of our territory.'

The four Ghanaian police personnel, according to the Togolese police officials at Zuikpe, a border town near Ho, were armed with guns, and entered Togo through Zuikpe in a Ghanaian police vehicle with the registration number GP 2274.

When the Togolese police on duty at Zuikpe stopped them, they refused and sped off towards Nyetey, a town deep in Togolese territory.

A  Togolese police officer at Zuikpe, who refused to mention his name, told The Chronicle that on Saturday, April 28, 2012, at about 10:00 a.m., a Ghanaian police vehicle was seen entering the country with four armed men in uniform, and when signaled to stop, the driver sped off towards the next Togolese community, raising suspicion about their activities.

According to the Togolese police official, they quickly mobilised, chased them with their official motorbikes and arrested them at Nyetey, and brought them back to the Zuikpe police station where they were detained for questioning.

He stressed that the behaviour of the Ghanaian policemen was a complete breach of security.

The Togolese police source continued that the Ghanaian police personnel were disarmed immediately they were arrested, and the keys to the vehicle they were using, seized.

The source stressed that the Ghanaian policemen would be properly interrogated and the necessary measures taken, in order to avoid future occurrences of what he described as an incursion by the Ghanaian police into Togolese territory.

Some of the Ghanaian citizens at Hodzo-Alavanyo in the Ho Municipality, who heard about the arrest, hurriedly went to the police station in Zuikpe in Togo to find out what was happening.

Mr. Nelson Dzikpem, a farmer at Hodzo-Alavanyo, told The Chronicle that before the ongoing biometric registration exercise started, information had gone to the Togolese communities about the unique nature of the 2012 biometric registration exercise, and that they should not attempt to cross the border to register.

According to Dzikpem, the information put the fear of God in the Togolese, who failed to cross the border to come and register. The armed policemen, he suspected, were, therefore, sent to assure them that they could come and register, and that they would not be arrested as was being rumoured.

There is, however, no independent confirmation of Mr. Dzipkem's allegation, as the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, who reportedly went to the rescue of the policemen in Togo, denied any knowledge of the story.

According to the MCE, he was not even aware that policemen had been arrested in Togo, let alone, he going to their rescue.

A police source contacted at Ho said the case was a complex one and could not comment on it. The source directed this reporter to contact the Regional Commander, DCOP Alex Bedie, who could also not be reached on his cellular phone.