Three Nigerian nationals deported from Saudi Arabia arrived at Abuja’s international airport carrying valid Ghanaian passports. It was not a clerical error. It was not a case of mistaken identity. According to Interior Minister Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, it was the direct result of Ghanaians helping foreign nationals fraudulently obtain Ghana’s national identity documents — and it is happening with alarming regularity.
The disclosure came during a two-day working visit to the Volta Region, where the minister delivered some of the most pointed warnings about national security, border integrity, and document fraud heard from a sitting Ghanaian minister in recent years.
The Saudi Arabia Incident: What Happened
Citing a concrete case to illustrate the security danger, Muntaka disclosed that Saudi Arabian authorities deported three Nigerians who were found carrying Ghanaian passports upon arrival in Abuja.
The sequence of events is significant. The three individuals were deported from Saudi Arabia, not from Ghana. They arrived in Nigeria’s capital city carrying passports that identified them as citizens of Ghana. The fact that their true nationality was discovered only on arrival in Nigeria means that, at some point in their journey, Ghanaian travel documentation passed scrutiny at an international border.
The incident, the minister said, is a direct consequence of citizens facilitating illegal documentation for foreigners and undermines Ghana’s credibility internationally.
That credibility concern is not abstract. Ghana’s passport carries visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to dozens of countries. When fraudulent holders of Ghanaian documents are caught at foreign airports, the consequence is not merely embarrassment for the individuals involved. It chips away at the diplomatic trust that makes Ghanaian travel documents valuable in the first place.
The Problem Is Bigger Than Three Passports
The Saudi Arabia case was a symptom, not the full disease. Minister Muntaka expressed concern over the rate at which some Ghanaians he described as unpatriotic are assisting foreign nationals to register their details on the Ghana national database, and also helping foreign nationals enter Ghana through illegitimate crossing points.
The national database is not a technical abstraction. It is the foundation upon which Ghana Card registration, passport issuance, voter registration, and access to social services are built. When foreign nationals are enrolled in it fraudulently, they gain access to the full range of rights and documents available to Ghanaian citizens, including, as the Saudi Arabia case demonstrates, passports that can be used across international borders.
Muntaka revealed that out of approximately 14,000 inmates currently in Ghana’s prisons, about 1,100 are foreign nationals, with Nigerians accounting for 75 percent of that number. That prison population figure adds a further dimension to the concern about the scale of undocumented and fraudulently documented foreign presence in Ghana.
102 Illegal Border Crossings in One Region Alone
Beyond the document fraud problem, Muntaka’s Volta Region tour produced a revelation about Ghana’s physical borders that has significant national security implications.
Security agencies have identified 102 unapproved inland crossing points in the Volta Region alone, through which undocumented migrants are entering Ghana.
One hundred and two. In one region. The Volta Region shares an extensive border with Togo, and its geography, a combination of waterways, forests, and rural communities with longstanding cross-border cultural and family ties, makes surveillance difficult. But the sheer number of identified unauthorised entry points goes beyond geography. It describes a border that, for practical purposes, is not functioning as a controlled frontier.
The minister warned that allowing undocumented foreigners to continuously slip through these illegal pathways jeopardises national security and elevates the danger of terrorist elements entering the country, particularly given the current security situation in West Africa.
In his own words during a meeting with traditional and religious leaders in Ho: “Given the current situation in West Africa, we all need to be alert. I have been informed that in this region alone, we have identified 102 illegitimate crossing points — places where it is not authorised for people to pass.”
He went further, placing direct responsibility on communities: “We have now come to realise that we, and by ‘we’ I mean all of us, are aiding people to enter our country without proper documentation. We are assisting them with motorbikes, cars, and other means to smuggle them into our country.”
Human Trafficking: Every 2025 Victim Entered Through Aflao and Akanu
The human cost of Ghana’s porous borders is not theoretical. Muntaka disclosed that 714 victims of human trafficking were rescued in 2025, all of whom were traced through the Aflao-Akanu corridor, with about 97 percent specifically identifying Aflao as their point of transit.
Security agencies arrested 103 suspected traffickers during operations across the country in 2025. The rescued victims had entered Ghana through the Volta Region, particularly through the Aflao and Akanu border corridors, using unapproved routes.
Muntaka also revealed that 90 percent of those arrested for human trafficking were Nigerian nationals, and that all the undocumented immigrants involved had entered through unapproved routes.
Traffickers operating through these corridors were found to be luring victims into Ghana and forcing them into prostitution and other criminal activities. The fact that every single victim rescued in 2025 entered through the same two corridors points to a specific, known vulnerability that has not yet been adequately closed.
Citizenship Reforms and Border Technology
The Interior Minister did not only raise alarm. He outlined steps the government is taking in response.
Muntaka announced reforms to the acquisition of Ghanaian citizenship, explaining that fees had been revised upward to protect the integrity of the country’s nationality regime. He also acknowledged complaints about the conduct of some security personnel at checkpoints and assured the public that measures were being explored to improve efficiency through technology and improved customer relations.
He also visited the Aflao border post directly, commending security personnel for their work while pressing for greater coordination between agencies. The government has more than 60 internal checkpoints across the country, though only two currently operate within the Volta Region, a disproportion that the minister acknowledged needs to be addressed.
The Broader Context: West African Terror Threat Raises the Stakes
Muntaka’s warnings sit within a regional security environment that has grown markedly more serious. Jihadist violence from the Sahel, which has already engulfed Burkina Faso and parts of Mali and Niger, has been edging toward the coastal West African states. Ghana has not experienced a major attack, but security agencies have been on alert, and the minister’s references to terrorism were not rhetorical.
Analysts have noted that the minister’s warning about over 100 unauthorised entry routes along the Volta-Togo border raises the question of whether Ghana can effectively protect its national security if large numbers of people continue to enter through routes that bypass official immigration and security controls.
The passport fraud incident in Saudi Arabia compressed that broad concern into a single, concrete, embarrassing example. Three people, not Ghanaian, entered the international travel system as Ghanaians. They were only caught on the other end.
How many were not caught?
What Citizens Are Being Asked to Do
The minister’s appeal to traditional rulers, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens in the Volta Region was deliberate. Border security in a region with 102 unofficial crossing points cannot be achieved by security agencies alone. It requires communities that refuse to provide transport, refuge, or documentation assistance to those entering Ghana illegally.
Muntaka called on chiefs, religious leaders, and community stakeholders in the Volta Region to support efforts towards strengthening national security, combating irregular migration, and addressing emerging security threats.
He also called on Ghanaians across the country to stop helping foreign nationals obtain Ghana Card registration and other national documentation through fraudulent means. The penalty for doing so, he made clear, is not merely moral. It is a direct contribution to security risks that, in an era of cross-border terrorism and organised crime, carry potentially severe consequences for Ghana as a whole.
The government’s message is straightforward: a Ghana passport in the wrong hands is not just an administrative problem. It is a national security threat.
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