Lawyers of eleven West African nationals who are challenging their detention in Ghana have told an Accra High Court that, contrary to claims by President Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Okudzeto Ablakwa, they remain in custody in Ghana and have not been repatriated to their home countries.
Lead Counsel Oliver Barker Vormawor has filed two ex parte applications: an injunction restraining the Ghana government from repatriating the US deportees, and a habeas corpus application seeking an order to compel the government to produce them in court.
The eleven West African nationals are from Nigeria, Liberia, Togo, Gambia, Niger and Mali.
During a virtual hearing on Thursday, September 18, Barker Vormawor argued that there was no legal basis for the continuous detention of the foreign nationals, adding that there was no court order to prove the same.
He noted that time was of the essence since President Mahama had through a media engagement indicated that the deportees had been repatriated to their home countries, with the Foreign Affairs Minister affirming same during a separate press conference.
He added that contrary to statements, the US deportees were still being held in military bases in the country, adding that the injunction application would prevent them from getting repatriated to their home countries, where they could face torture, persecution, among others.
But presiding judge Priscilla Dikro Ofori, sitting in for the substantive judge, indicated that she disagreed with the applications being ex parte.
Barker Vormawor explained that due to the long detention of his client, he was seeking an order through the ex parte motion to get the security agencies to produce his clients since they’ve not had access to them.
Justice Ofori, however, adjourned the proceedings to September 23 to consider the two applications by the lawyers for the deportees.
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