Ethiopian border jumpers nabbed

09 Nov, 2014 - 06:11 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Thupeyo Muleya in Beitbridge

Police last Wednesday arrested four Ethiopian border jumpers and a Zimbabwean who had tried to help three of them enter South Africa through an illegal crossing point along Limpopo River.

Ibrahim Ali Maalim Adam, Debe Ikran Abdi, Abdi Samiya Abdulai and Mohammed Ahred Adi as well as their facilitator, Solani Ngwenya of Bulawayo, appeared before Beitbridge resident magistrate Miss Gloria Takundwa on Thursday, charged with breaching the Immigration Act.

Miss Takundwa granted Ngwenya US$50 bail and remanded the Ethiopians in custody to November 20.

Prosecution will resume with an interpreter’s assistance.

Prosecutor Mr Francis Muripa said Adam facilitated the illegal entry of his fellow countrymen into Zimbabwe through Victoria Falls on November 4.

The group then travelled to Bulawayo to meet Ngwenya and arranged to help Abdi, Abdulai and Adi to cross into South Africa.

Adam allegedly paid Ngwenya US$200.

However, police arrested them in Beitbridge.

The number of illegal immigrants entering Zimbabwe illegally en route to South Africa has increased in recent months.

In October, 56 Ethiopians were found in Seke in what appeared like an aborted human trafficking mission.

Parliament’s Thematic Committee on Peace and Security has established that Zimbabwe has 51 informal border posts and 18 official ones.

There are fears that the porous borders pose security risks and expose the country to Ebola.

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