The report of the bomb scare at the Kotoka International Airport and the invitation of the the Base Ammunition Depot Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces to remove an unattended bag from the arrival hall of Terminal 3, Kotoka International Airport is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reported that the Base Ammunition Depot Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces was on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 called in to remove an unattended bag from the arrival hall of Terminal 3, Kotoka International Airport.
Confirming the incident which made the rounds on social media on Wednesday morning, the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) said the unattended bag was sighted around 9pm.
The GACL statement added that the bag was taken away for further investigations.
"Management of Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) can confirm that on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 at around 9pm, an unattended bag was sighted at the arrival hall of Terminal 3, Kotoka International Airport," the statement said.
"The Base Ammunition Depot Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces was immediately brought in to conduct preliminary assessment of the bag and its contents. The bag was subsequently taken away for further investigations, the outcome of which will be made public".
The GACL also apologised for the disruption in the arrival facilitation process during the period.
"Management of GACL wishes to apologize for the disruption in the arrival facilitation process during the period and assures the travelling public of its commitment to ensure their safety and security at our airports," the statement said.
The newspaper says that the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to boycott the next Dubai Expo in protest of the decision of Emirates airline to suspend indefinitely the entry of travellers from 10 African countries including Ghana.
The North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP) also wants African leaders and the African Union to denounce the decision and give the United Arab Emirates an ultimatum to reverse the suspension or face reciprocal action.
In a Facebook post, Ablakwa said the decision of Emirates which came into effect on December 28, 2021, is the most discriminatory, offensive, senseless and retrogressive step given that
He posted: "The other nauseating irony is that daily active cases in the UAE have now crossed 1,800, far higher than Ghana's 1,264 new cases, and yet UAE citizens can travel to Ghana whereas Ghanaians cannot travel to the UAE.
"I urge African Presidents and the African Union to immediately denounce this shameless discriminatory policy and to proceed by giving UAE authorities an ultimatum to reverse this backward ban, failing which I strongly expect African countries to reciprocate in good measure, and in addition withdraw en masse from the ongoing Dubai Expo which closes on March 31, 2022.
"I should hope President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana would also in protest reconsider his plans to lead a Ghanaian delegation to the Dubai Expo on March 8, 2022.
"African nations cannot continue to be soft targets in these dark schemes that perpetuate high-level international racism".
The airline on December 28, 2021, said passengers on direct and transit flights from Ghana, Angola, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Zambia and Zimbabwe will not be permitted to travel to Dubai from December 28, 2021.