Four Nigerians, suspected to be part of a robbery syndicate, have been intercepted and arrested by officers of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) at the Sameye border post in the Western Region. The four, Chimez Auguston Onya, Ikella Ubiajunima, Mohammed Jessica and Chinde Ike, were suspected to be part of a gang who chloroformed unsuspecting victims or injected them into unconsciousness on commercial vehicles and then robbed them off their personal belongings. A release from the GIS explained that during a routine check-up at the Semeye border post, one Nigerian was found unconscious on board a Hyundai vehicle with registration number BA121R travelling from Elubo to Takoradi. The statement said just after the incident, two Ghanaians were also found unconscious on board a Nissan Urvan with registration number GR 2859Q; and that the development prompted a thorough search on all passengers on the vehicle and in the process, blades, syringes, needles and substances believed to be chloroform were retrieved. The unconscious victims were responding to treatment at the Half Assin Hospital while the suspects were in Police custody. The act of drugging passengers and later dispossessing them of their belongings is common on the Accra-Aflao route, with Nigerians mostly the culprits. Coming on the heels of a series of atrocities perpetrated by some criminal-minded Nigerians recently, the news of the arrest would not go down well with the country’s mission in Ghana which had been struggling to defend the image of the most populous nation in Africa. Just last week, a Nigerian lady, Jennifer was arrested for killing her boyfriend, Christopher Mario Asiamo, at Christian Village near Achimota, a suburb of Accra; a development that allegedly sparking off xenophobic reactions from locals. Jennifer later attempted to commit suicide in police cells when the long arm of the law caught up with her. Then came the allegation of stashing of fake currencies by Amalgamated Bank, which has its root in Nigeria, in its vault, allegedly by its dismissed Managing Director, Oluwale Ajomale. Meanwhile, the Tema Metropolitan Office of the Ghana Immigration Service has between January and March deported seven foreigners from the country for illegally working in the metropolis. The seven whose names and nationalities were not given, were residing and working in the metropolis without the necessary documents, including resident and working permits. Emmanuel Otchere-Boakye, Tema Sector Commander told the Ghana News Agency on Friday that two other foreigners had been given time to regularize their stay in the country after proving that they were investors. He said the foreigners were picked up at hotels and factories in the metropolis during checks in fulfilment of the Service's responsibility of monitoring and investigating allegations of foreigners breaching the country's laws. Mr Otchere-Boakye urged the public to volunteer information on foreigners with suspicious character to the Service to enable it to investigate the background of such people. He cautioned people against the use of middlemen in acquiring passports, asking them to follow the due process of submitting filled passport forms to any of the GIS offices nationwide. Mr. Otchere-Boakye advised Ghanaians not to wait until they urgently needed passports before applying for the document since that could compel them to engage the services of middlemen. He said the Tema office of the GIS received a total of 47,689 passport applications out of which 1,416 were successfully processed and issued by the Passport Office. Mr. Otchere-Boakye attributed the small number of passports issued last year to frequent breakdown of equipment at the Passport Office as well as inadequate information provided by applicants. He appealed to applicants to provide accurate information when filling the passport form as well as attach the required documents for easy processing. He asked the public to exercise patience after submitting their passport applications, and explained that even though a passport must be processed within four weeks, unforeseen circumstances sometimes resulted in delays. Source: Daily Guide