ECOWAS Observer Team condemns closure of borders

An ECOWAS Election Observer Team has said closure of Ghana's borders because of the presidential run-off had serious implications for the sub-regional protocol on the free movement of people, goods and services.
     Prof Adele Ginadu, leader of the observer team, said this at Aflao on Friday during a visit to the Ghana/Togo border at Aflao.
      Prof Ginadu told the Ghana News Agency that the team would state its position on the closure of the border.
     Professor Ginadu's team tried unsuccessfully to secure the release of two other ECOWAS election observers being held by the Ghanaian security at Aflao for allegedly attempting to cross into the country through an unapproved route on Friday.
     They were said to have been stranded in Lome on their way from Benin to monitor the presidential runoff.
     The two, including a lady, were not allowed by the Ghana Immigration Service authorities to leave the Aflao border as at 2000 hours on Friday despite proof of their status by Prof Ginadu.
     Mr Baba Alatunde, a Nigerian who said he was en-route through Ghana to Cote d I'voire with his two sons and his pregnant wife to see a doctor, described the closure as an act of insensitivity.
     A group of Europeans who arrived in a chartered bus also   murmured comments in anger and refused to talk to the press.
     Security remained tight at both the Ghana and Togo sides of the border with all unapproved points sealed off.
     There were unconfirmed reports of some people having been arrested for attempting to cross through unapproved routes into and out of the country.
GNA