Eighty more foreign nationals said to be in fraudulent online businesses were at the weekend arrested by the Tafo Pankrono Divisional Police Command in Kumasi.
They were busted at Kenyase-Duase in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region.
Out of the number, nine were females, all from Burkina Faso, and the rest of them from Nigeria and Niger.
While the females have been kept at Kenyasi police custody the rest were kept at the Tafo Pankrono Divisional Police Command.
They were all said to be living in a chamber and Hall apartment in the area.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Stephen Kwakye, Tafo Pankrono Divisional Commander confirmed the arrest but would not give any details.
Meanwhile, the Unit Committee Secretary for the area, Kofi Kakari, said there were suspicious moves by the suspects and compelled some residents in the area to report them to the police.
He claimed that he led some elders in the community to question them on their activities in the area but they failed to give tangible reasons.
This brings to 128 the number of such suspects being investigated by the police with 48 arrested in two separate operations in connection with alleged terrorism and other fraudulent acts, barely two weeks ago.
Twenty One of the suspects were arrested earlier, while 27 were also arrested later.
They were said to be from Niger, Nigeria, Kenya and Mali.
In the operation, the Ejisu Divisional Police Command made the arrest at Ekyem, a community in Ejisu Municipality, based on a tip off.
The investigation is focused on whether they have links to any terrorist group, following a recent terrorist acts in some neighbouring counties.
Some of the suspects have been placed in police custody at Fumesua and others at Donyina and Ejisu.
Throwing more light on the incident, the Assemblyman for Akokoamon-Achiase-Ekyem electoral areas, Daniel Owusu, said the community members had observed the “suspicious activities” of the suspects for some months and therefore, decided to report them to the police for further investigations.
He said they did not know what exactly was happening in the house but “you will always see them making calls for hours in the evening”.
“Out of curiosity, I entered the house one day and asked them of their mission, but they claimed they were learning because the place is a school.
The move, he said, followed the “See something, say something” campaign being spearheaded by the National Security as a citizens’ awareness campaign aimed at protecting the country against terrorist attacks.
He said the 27 suspects had rented five bedrooms of a storey building while the 21 were also occupying a 13 bedroom house, both at Ekyem.
A search in their rooms saw some teaching boards and documents. The arrest followed a tip off by some community members in the area who noticed the abnormal behaviour of the foreign nationals in the area.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
