A 28-year-old Nigerian man has been repatriated by the Kaneshie District Court for illegally acquiring a Ghanaian passport and birth certificate.
The man identified as Iyamu, aka Anthony Kwarteng, had acquired a Ghanaian passport in Spain through a friend but the passport got missing when he paid a visit to Nigeria.
He was arrested by the Ghana Immigration Service, GIS, while attempting to secure a new Ghanaian Passport at the Passport Application Centre, PAC, at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra.
According to SaharaReporters, Iyamu pleaded guilty to illegal entry, attempting to obtain a Ghanaian passport and possession and use of a Ghanaian birth certificate.
The presiding judge, Ama Adomako Kwakye found him guilty of all three charges. He was ordered to pay a fine of ¢840 in default and serve two weeks imprisonment for illegal entry.
On the charge of attempting to obtain a Ghanaian passport, the court ordered him to pay ¢960 in default and serve two weeks imprisonment. He was also fined GHC840.00 or, in default, serve two weeks imprisonment for possession and use of a false certificate with a Ghanaian Birth Certificate. The sentences, however, will run concurrently.
Narrating the facts of the case in Court, Chief Superintendent of GIS, Mr Adolf Asenso-Aboagye, said Iyamu submitted a Ghanaian passport application with a Ghana’s birth certificate and a Ghanaian passport number GT2038555, which he claimed was missing.
Chief Supt. Asenso Aboagye said the convict also added a police report to the documents. Asenso-Aboagye said officials at the PAC doubted his nationality and referred the matter to the GIS for further investigations.
The prosecution said investigations at the GIS headquarters revealed that the convict was a Nigerian whose real name is Eugene Wisdom Iyamu and not Anthony Kwarteng, as he claimed.
According to the prosecution, Iyamu was born at Agbor in the Delta State and came to Ghana through an unapproved route at Ghana’s Eastern Border (Aflao).