The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on Thursday arrested seven Pakistani nationals on suspicion that they could be in the country illegally and suspicion of being terrorists.
They were arrested at Assin Fosu in the Central Region upon a tip-off.
A source told the Daily Guide that the Pakistanis were seen moving from community to community teaching the Islamic doctrine.
[contextly_sidebar id=”WG2pHj7cxALPzegVmOtQ3nzmRJKH22Nx”]On their arrival in the country on an emergency visa on February 22, 2016, the source said, they first visited Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and then in the company of five other Ghanaians headed for the Central Regional capital, Cape Coast.
But even before they could reach Cape Coast, the Pakistanis were arrested.
This was after residents of Assin Fosu had alerted the police that they had seen persons suspected to be member of the dreaded Al-Qaeda terrorist group.
The police subsequently sent them to the Central Regional headquartes of the GIS where they were interrogated.
But after an extensive interrogation, our source said, they were released.
“After cross-checking their documents, we realized there was no cause for alarm because their passports are in the custody of the Ghana Immigration Serve headquarters,” the source disclosed.
Checks by Daily Guide have established that the seven Pakistanis entered the country with an emergency visa which allowed them to stay for 30 days.
It has also emerged that they are in the country at the expense of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu.
According to the source, it was the Chief Imam who applied for the visas for all the seven persons, which gives no cause for worry.
“Once their passports are with us, if we are looking for them, it is very easy to find them,” a source at the GIS headquarters told this paper.
But sources at the GIS headquarters have confirmed to the paper that even though their visas have expired, they have applied for an extension of their stay as their passports are still in the custody of the authorities.
They are expected to leave the country by My 13, 2016. Pakistani clerics often come to the country to undertake Islamic evangelism and are fondly called Tabligs.
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Source: Daily Guide