Mr Toff-Mensah, a 32-year old Ghanaian who is currently a Master of Business Administration student at the University of Ghana was interdicted at a Ukrainian airport when he travelled to visit his nephew. He travelled to Ukraine from Accra on July 27, made a transit at Istanbul before arriving in Kiev on July 28, 2018. He then notified the family of his safe arrival via social media chat and also indicated that he was held up at immigration check for 14 hours where the nephew in Ukraine had to be called to come pick the luggage brought by Mr Toff-Mensah from Ghana.
They said the luggage was too much and they asked him if he was surely going to return. He even showed them his student identification card just to prove to them that he was going to return to his Country. His nephew was then at the airport waiting for him and they made him step out of the airport and gave his stuff to my nephew and then a car came to pick him up. He was then whisked away to a police cell and later moved to the Lukyanivska Prison in Kiev where a preliminary hearing was held on July 30 with an adjourned sitting set for September 12, 2018.
Family is worried about the deteriorating condition of their relative, who is only being fed with bread and sugar solution.
They took $100 dollars from him to put him in the wardens’ quarters and just a week ago they demanded another $200, which he didn’t have and he has now been mixed up with the inmates and moreover, the family has been denied contact with their relative for over a week now.
Efforts by the family to rescue the fifth and only male child among six children, have so far not been successful.
His family had already contacted the Ghanaian Consul in Ukraine, sent a petition to the Ministry of foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and also arranged for a lawyer in Ukraine to defend the brother.
The situation has also worsened the medical condition of his mother who is hypertensive and has been in-and-out of the hospital.