Ghana Immigration Officers Assault and Rob Upper West ISD Director, Sinto Nuhu Mustapha, Over Ethnic Profiling

The Upper West Regional Director of the Information Services Department (ISD), Mr. Sinto Nuhu Mustapha, has accused officers of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) of assault, ethnic profiling, and unlawful seizure of money during a routine security check on a Wa-bound bus.

Mr. Sinto Nuhu Mustapha recounted that the incident occurred when Immigration officers stopped the commercial vehicle he was travelling in and singled him out, alleging that he was a Fulani (Fulbe) and therefore not a Ghanaian, despite his presentation of a valid Ghana Card clearly indicating his nationality.

According to Mr. Mustapha, the officers ignored his identification, searched him, and seized his cash without explanation, before instructing the driver to continue the journey without him. When he protested and demanded the return of his money, the situation escalated into physical abuse.

“They searched the rest, picked their monies and asked them to go, saying the driver could proceed. I didn’t understand and went to them and asked why my money had been taken,” Mr. Mustapha narrated.

“I asked them how I was supposed to feed or continue my journey in Wa if they took my money. One of them slapped me.”

He said he remained calm after the assault but made a mental note of the officer involved.

Mr. Mustapha revealed that it was only after the officers later discovered that he was the Regional Director of the Information Service Department that his money was returned—an action he described as deeply troubling and indicative of systemic abuse of power.

He condemned what he called the persistent harassment, humiliation, and racial profiling of Fulanis in Ghana, accusing security agencies, including the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Police Service, of routinely targeting citizens based on appearance rather than lawful evidence.

Mr. Mustapha stressed that the incident raises serious questions about professionalism, human rights abuses, and ethnic discrimination within Ghana’s security services, warning that many ordinary citizens without titles or influence are unlikely to recover seized property or receive justice in similar circumstances.

He made the revelations during an interaction with journalists in the Upper West Region, calling for urgent investigations, sanctions against the officers involved, and institutional reforms to end what he described as growing lawlessness and ethnic bias in security operations.