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Opinions of Friday, 10 June 2016

Columnist: Sarpong, Justice

Allotey Jacobs is a liar!

Allotey Jacobs Allotey Jacobs

Folks, I can confidently say that Allotey Jacobs was briefly detained and subjected to exhaustive interrogation at the Heatrhow Airport in United Kingdom and finally put on an Airplane without being allowed to the transit hall to join other passengers making connecting flights to other destinations around the globe and my facts are based on what NDC Member of Parliament for Dadekotopon in Greater Accra Region, Alhaji Namoale said yesterday, 06/08/2016

"Allotey Jacobs was held and interrogated – Namoale confirms"

What is the meaning of held and interrogated? Held also means Deained. Merriam Webster dictionary defines interrogation as "To ask someone questions in a thorough and often forceful way". Dictionary on line defines interrogation as "to formally ask inquisitive questions especially for the purpose of trying to find out something the other person doesn't want you to know"

Now that namby-pamby Allotey Jacobs has admitted that he was detained and grilled with questions by Security Personal at the Airport, the question now is, what was he detained about? I don't think Allotey was detained and asked about how many children such a handsome gentleman have and the name of his wife so that the Brits will extract some DNA and sperms from him for future test tube little Jacobs.

Now let's read what Namoale said about why Allotey was stopped and grilled by the Security at the London Airport.

"In abroad, there are thousands of people disembarking at the airports, a single plan carries about five hundred passengers at a time and every five minutes an airplane lands, if these whites want to search passengers individually, then it will take them a whole day to search people from one airplane. So they handpick and search some of the passengers and that is not based on prior information but it's done at random"

Bunkum, that is the word to Namoale twaddle here. There is nothing like randomly picked and questioned or searched at Airports. Namoale, if you don't know, some people are picked and searched based on prior information.

There is nothing like randomly picked, and I will be back to expatiate on this point. But back with Allotey issue: the truth is not being told here. The person who gave that information to Adoryeh said four security people came to the plane to remove Allottey for questioning. Meanwhile, Allortey said-initially-that nothing like that happened but now we are being told something happened.

Now, it is up to mugwump Allotey to come out and tell us why he was detained at the Airport for three hours and not allowed to the transit hall but was kept at the Security post and put on the next plane to Dallas. At this point, readers might be asking me why I am writing as if I was there. The amswer lies in this Namoale comment.

"So Allotey upon reaching Heathrow and was questioned by the security personnel on duty, a member of the NPP who was present realizing that he's been left to go through the checkpoint while Allotey was held up, he waited at the arrival section and watched as all the passengers on the BA flight from Ghana walked off.

After three hours of not seeing any sign of Allotey, he concluded that he had been arrested, but it wasn't an arrest; he was asked harmless questions and was allowed to go later. He went off to America. The NPP man thought Allotey was coming to the UK, and so hours after not seeing him there, he concluded that he'd been arrested not knowing that he'd gone to the USA."

Sorry to say this, but Alloyey and his friend Namoale are not the sharpest knife in the drawer. First, how did this Naomoley and Allotey know the other guy waited three hours at the airport without seeing Allortey at the arrival hall? The reason they know about how many hours the guy supposedly waited at the arrival hall and why he did not see Allotey is that,Allotey was in the custody of the Security Officers for three hours and he was not allowed to the arrival hall but was rather put in a plane bound to Dallas, Texas since that was his destination.

Folks, believe me, if Allotey final destination was London, he would have been refused entry and put on the next plane back to Ghana as Dr. Francis Nkrumah, the son of our first President was not allowed entry into USA.

For a lot of us who have travelled extensively on this route, I found it very strange how somebody who was just transiting in London to USA would have been subjected to such an interrogation.

What kind of British visa did Allotey have in his passport: curb transit visa? or a visa that would have allowed Allotey to go to London before continuing on his journey?

Curb transit visa only allows you to the arrival hall area to wait for your next flight but not to enter England and you usually just show the Immigration or the Security people manning the booth and you are allowed to enter the transit hall area.

There is too much about this Allotey Jacobs hypnagogic episode shrouded in mystery, and he needs to tell Ghanaians why he was detained in London on his way to USA to conduct business on Ghana's behalf. Some of us have travelled from USA to Ghana on British Airways and from Ghana to USA.

If Allortey made a transit at London on his way to USA and he was picked and questioned, and was not seen at the arrival hall or at the hall where people on transit wait for their next flight, that shows that Allortey was held at Immigration or Customs and was not released to wait at the hall like the rest of the people on transit; but detained at the Security post for some reason and put on the next flight to Dallas, Texas USA.

The story of the guy who reported Allortey arrest or being removed from the plane is now coming out to be true. Allotey Jacobs is a gormless man whose panjandrum in Ghana politics was put into a test by the Security personnel at Heathrow and he went into jimjams.

Allotey was alleged to have been questioned about money laundering because he was alleged to be carrying half a million British pounds on him. What is strange about this is that, Allotey said he learnt about his so called arrest from a telephone call he received from Ibrahim Mahama, the President's brother.

Why was it Ibrahim Mahama who called him? My guess is that Allotey had a visa to enter England and that is why he was detained about something and interrogated because ordinary transit passengers would not have gone through such scrutiny and Allotey might have been trying to enter London with that money.

It is also strange that Jon Benjamin, the British High Commissioner in Ghana also has to come out to deny about Allotey's problems at the Airport. Folks, there was definitely a diplomatic intercession in this issue. The powers that be that sent Allotey Jacobs with this money to be stashed in London had to work through diplomatic channels to avoid an embarrassment to Mahama administration.

Now back to this notion that people are randomly picked and interrogated is not true. You have to be flagged by the system to be held and interrogated.

According to a reliable source in the Air travel business, there are a lot of reasons some people are picked and interrogated. It is not like somebody is sitting somewhere and making decisions like at the count of ten, I will be somebody in line. There are many reasons why some people are flagged.

1. People are picked because a prior information about that person has been given to officials about that person carrying drugs or something he shouldn't have on him.

2. There are some names on all airports due to security reasons whose names have been put on security alert watch list.

3. The way you behave when you are in the plane plays a part for you being flagged whether you will be picked to be searched or interrogated when you get off from the plane. Example of behavior like going to the rest room a lot or refusing to eat or drink during a long flight.

4. You are likely to be picked for searching or being interrogated if you changed your flight date or how you fill the forms given to you inside the plane including the currency declaration forms. If you have too much money usually over $10,000, you are likely to be picked for further interrogation.

5. The way you behave when you are in line to go through immigration and custom or how you answer basic questions initially at immigration. If you seem evasive with simple questions or you try to avoid eye contact with the person questioning you.

The idea of being randomly picked is a mirage. There is always a reason you are picked for interrogation.

Now we are waiting patiently for Allotey Jacobs to come back to Ghana and deal with Hopeson Adoryeh as he promised to do. What is the rationale behind Alhaji Namoale coming out to admit Allotey was held and interrogated when the case has been put to rest after the British High Commissioner came out to deny Allotey's arrest in London?

You have not heard the last of this case and it is going to get worse for Allotey Jacobs.