Ghana deports three ex-South African police officers

The three ex-South African police officers being held by Ghana's Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) over a week have been deported by the authorities.

The three left Ghana aboard a Johannesburg-bound South African Airways flight, Flight Number 210, Tuesday morning.

The three boarded the flight with officials from the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and security details from the BNI, escorting the three to the aircraft.

Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (retd), 54; Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45, were picked up by operatives of the Ghana Police Service and BNI on March 20, at the EL-Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa, near Winneba, 67 km west of the capital.

"The trio, all ex-police officers, were engaged in training 15 young men in various military drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response maneuvers," the BNI said in a statement.

They were granted bail each to the tune of 200,000 Ghana cedis or 51,914.89 U.S. dollars on Thursday, but remained in custody as officials of the BNI said the bail bonds had not yet been met.

Lawyers of the accused persons raised legal issues with the continuous incarceration of the three and indicated their intent to file the necessary legal papers in court to secure their release.

Accompanied by a team of seven lawyers, led by Ellis Owusu Fordjour and Samuel Atta Akyea , the three South Africans were each charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit crime, unlawful training and making false declaration, to which they pleaded not guilty.

A comprehensive report on the operations of Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) and an assessment of some key staff's vulnerability for possible compromise was retrieved from Hazis's room.

Hazis, the leader of the team, told interrogators he had been contracted by Captain Edmund Kojo Koda, Head of Personal Security of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Flagbearer of opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), and he in turn engaged the other two, according to a release by Prosper Bani, Minister for the Interior (Homeland Security).

He also disclosed that he was in the country in 2012 and worked closely with Captain Koda during the 2012 elections.

According to the Interior Ministry, the current arrest of Capt Koda came on the heels of a previous security alert in 2014, after his name popped up in a National Security investigation of the activities of some Serbian nationals who were brought into the country to train selected people drawn from across the country in the art of civil insurrection: a "training dubbed "Assaulting the pillars of power".

"Capt. Koda on his part confirmed that he invited the suspects to train his personnel. Captain Koda conceded that with hindsight he should have sought permission from the authorities before engaging in that exercise," the statement added.

On Monday, opposition NPP addressed a press conference urging the authorities to respect the order of the court and release the suspects on bail.

On the same day, Capt. Koda was released on bail as concerns had been raised he might not have been in the best of health conditions. Endit