Togolese are not fleeing - Ghana Security Agencies

Aflao, (V/R) April. 25, GNA-Ghanaian Security Agencies at the Ghana/Togo border at Aflao have denied reports of Togolese fleeing into Ghana in anticipation of an after election standoff between opposing political forces in Togo.

Miss Elizabeth Baffoe, Comptroller of Immigration at the Aflao Frontier, refuting the reports in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday, said effective patrol at the eastern frontier had been going on to prevent any such influx.

She said a combined team of officers of the Police, Immigration, Customs and operatives of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), under the command of the District Police Commander was engaged in the patrols and had "so far not identified anybody thought to be fleeing post election tension in Togo."

"It is totally untrue, if anybody says Togolese are crossing into Ghana, at least not between Aflao and Havi," Miss Baffoe stated. She appealed to the media to stop spreading falsehood about the situation, stressing that things were "orderly and calm along the frontier."

Togbe Amenya Fiti V, Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, whose jurisdiction stretches beyond Aflao in Ghana to Sagbado, near Lome, in Togo, also denied any knowledge of distressed Togolese entering Ghana.

Meanwhile anxiety is mounting among residents and stranded travellers at Aflao and its environs in anticipation of reactions to the outcome of Sunday's Presidential polls in Togo.

The situation in Togo is the main topic for discussions by groups of people at public places such as vehicle terminals, beaches, and in moving public vehicles.

The border closure, which enters its fourth day on Monday has almost paralysed economic activity in Aflao and its environs. Apart from the cluster of stranded travellers around the frontier the Aflao township is calm and no trace of its usual brisk human traffic, with Drivers, Restaurant, Food Vendors and Load Carriers as the hardest hit.