16 Ethiopian illegal immigrants nabbed in Malawi

Malawi  Police in northern district of Rumphi have arrested 16 Ethiopian nationals f who they intercepted at Thekero along the M1 Road lakeshore side in the district for illegal entry into the country.

The law enforcers have also launched a man-hunt for the driver who had aided them but bolted immediately after encountering a check point.

Rumphi Police spokesperson, Victor Khamisi, confirmed the development, saying the illegal immigrants were picked at around 03:00 a.m. Monday in an abandoned vehicle Toyota Noah registration number TO 5137 belonging to Alfred Hassan Chizumba of Lilongwe.

Khamisi said the vehicle they were travelling in had earlier ignored and stormed past an adhoc road block at Chitimba erected by Immigration officers who immediately alerted police.

When Police were informed of the speeding vehicle going the direction of Rumphi, they mounted their own adhoc road block at Thekero, about eight kilometres from Chitimba where they stayed in wait.

“When the vehicle was about fifteen metres to the police road block, the driver stopped and bolted into a nearby bush, leaving keys on the ignition,” explained Khamisi.

“When our officers interviewed the sixteen on the spot, it was discovered that they had no authenticated travel documents. They were all arrested for illegal entry into the country,” he added.

Meanwhile, police in the district have launched a massive man-hunt for the fugitive driver who aided the foreigners and have also impounded the abandoned vehicle.

“We have also seized the vehicle which was used in transporting these illegal immigrants,” he said, disclosing the foreigners who are in the age range of 18 to 27 only, wrote down their names and ages but could not speak English, French or Kiswahili.

The latest incident comes barely a week after Karonga Police also seized another group of 61 Ethiopians who had entered the country without relevant legal travelling documents.

Meanwhile, the aliens are expected to appear in a relevant court of law to answer charges of illegal entry into Malawi.

The aliens from the Horn of Africa reportedly use the porous Malawi boarders in transit to South Africa.

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