About 40 people suspected to be Ivorian ex-combatants have been arrested in a swoop by the National Security apparatus of Ghana at the Ampain Refugee Camp in the Western Region of Ghana.

Accra / NationalTurk Africa News – The arrest came after series of deadly attacks being recorded on the Ghana-Ivory Coast border which the Ivorian Government blamed it on Ghana.

The suspects are currently being held for screening at the Regional Security Council in the western Region of Ghana.

The UN report: Ghana is harboring mercenaries to destabilize Ivory Coast

This comes days after a United Nations expert panel report indicted Ghana for harboring allies of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who have established camps in the Western Region and causing occasional incursions into Ivory Coast with fatalities, with the aim of destabilizing the current Ivorian government. But the Ghanaian government has denied the report vehemently saying the report is “unusual and flawed”.

Reports also indicate that some of the Ivorian refugees at the camp have deserted the place following the arrest.

Arrest done to restore the civilian status of the refugee camp : Ghana Refugee Board

The arrest, according to the Ghana Refugee Board, was to restore the civilian status of the refugee camp.
Chairman of the Ghana Refugee Board, Kenneth Dzirasah declined to give details of the number of people arrested when contacted by the media but however disclosed that the exercise was informed by intelligence gathered over the past few weeks. He also said the swoop was in the interest of the refugees since the men they arrested wield dangerous weapons which are a threat to the security of the refugees.

Mr. Dzirasah said those arrested were believed to be ex-combatants who escaped from the Eagle Camp in the Central Region of Ghana after they made a frantic effort to cause their arrest.

That camp in the Central Region of Ghana has since been closed down he added.

He further stated that he suspected that those ex-combatants had infiltrated the refugee camp to avoid arrest by the security apparatus of Ghana.

“The exercise was done to restore the civil character of the camp by trying to identify those we suspect are ex-combatants and are hiding in the camp,” he said.

He noted, “Coordinators on the ground have given them an assurance that this is an exercise done in their own, interest -they are not the target group.”

Some of the refugees on the other hand, believed that some of the people arrested were innocent and had not been involved in any nefarious activity.

The refugees, mainly supporters of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, suspected that the exercise was conducted under the influence of the Ivorian government.

They therefore called on the Government of Ghana to resist the pressure being mounted by the Alassane Ouattara government; a government they claimed was currently feeling insecure.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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