Nigerien tricycle rider jailed for smuggling four migrants into Ghana

A 32-year-old Nigerien tricycle rider has been sentenced to seven months in prison by the Denu Circuit Court for helping four Nigeriens enter Ghana unlawfully.

Mustapha Usman was convicted after pleading guilty to migrant smuggling and causing a false representation to be made.

The court sentenced him to three months in prison for migrant smuggling and four months for causing a false representation.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Usman appeared in court without a lawyer.

The charges were read and translated into Hausa with assistance from the Ghana Police Service, Ketu Division, before he entered his plea.

The court ordered that he be kept in the custody of the Aflao Police Station until his transfer to the Ho Central Prison.

The four Nigerien migrants involved in the case have since been repatriated.

The prosecution, led by DSI Emmanuel Faith Otchere-Baffour, who held brief for DCOI Mark Asamoah-Boakye, said Usman is a tricycle rider resident in Togo.

He was arrested by officers of the Ghana Immigration Service, Aflao Sector Command, at the Aflao Border Beat Six Post.

According to the prosecution, the four Nigeriens engaged Usman to help them enter Ghana.

They allegedly agreed to pay him GH¢200 each to transport them from the Lagos Lorry Park in Lomé to Kojoviakope, near the Aflao Beat Six area.

When they arrived at Kojoviakope, Usman allegedly contacted an accomplice identified only as Remy to help move the migrants into Ghana.

Remy is currently at large.

The prosecution said the four migrants were hidden in the bucket of Usman’s tricycle and covered to make it appear empty.

This was allegedly done to avoid immigration checks.

The court heard that Remy later arranged for another tricycle rider to move the loaded tricycle into Ghana while he and Usman monitored the operation from a distance.

The tricycle crossed into Ghana at about 6:30 p.m.

It was later intercepted by immigration officers around Beat Seven.

The prosecution said Usman approached the scene after the interception and identified himself as the owner of the tricycle.

The other rider fled.

The four migrants were taken to the border for questioning.

They told investigators that they each contributed towards the GH¢200 payment made to Usman.

Usman was charged with migrant smuggling under the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573, as amended by the Immigration (Amendment) Act, 2012, Act 848.

He was also charged with causing a false representation to be made under the Immigration Act.