The Upper West Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) nabbed 20 ECOWAS nationals at the Babile Inland Post on Tuesday for entering the country illegally.
According to the Service, the irregular ECOWAS migrants were apprehended following an intel corroborated from the Hamile Sector Command, onboard a VIP Bus with Registration Number AS 1614 - 20 from Hamile enroute Kumasi.
In a statement, the Public Affairs Officer (POA) of the Upper West Regional Command of the GIS, Assistant Inspector Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul-Mumin Seidu, said the migrants whose ages range from seven to 47 years, comprised of 19 Burkina Faso nationals and a Malian. They included 18 males and two females.
The statement said investigations revealed that the migrants entered into Ghana through some unapproved routes on the Hamile stretch bordering neighbouring Burkina Faso.
"It was further revealed that they were journeying to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Sampa in the Bono Region, Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region and Bole in the Savannah Region. The purposes for their migration includes trading, family visit as well as economic and farming activities," the statement added.
According to the statement, the migrants were taken through health screening by personnel from the Ghana Health Service before they were escorted to the Hamile Border Post where they were handed over to the Burkina Faso authorities on the other side of the border at about 10:02pm Tuesday.
"As part of measures to dwarf if not completely end the menace of irregular migration to and from Ghana, the Upper West Regional Commander, Chief Superintendent William Peter Andoh has established another inland checkpoint at Ga in the Wa West district," the statement has stated.
The statement warned the general public that it would be impossible to evade the 'vigilant Immigration Officials' even when they successfully sneak into Ghana through the porous borders.
It added that aside the President's directive on the closure of the land borders as part of measures to combat COVID-19, the Ghana Immigration Service is mandated to regulate migration to and from Ghana, and that the Service would not let its guard down to this mandate.
It therefore cautioned that any citizen who is caught facilitating the activities of irregular migration to and from Ghana would suffer the penalty thereof.
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