The Ghana Immigration service on Monday April 13, 2020 arrested some Burkinabes numbering 41 people at Lawra in the Upper West Region who were traveling with two sprinter buses with registration numbers AW 253-14 and GE 8700-12 from Sampa in the Ahafo region.
According to the service, the Burkina Faso nationals comprised 14 males, 6 children and 21 females with the adults aging within 20-50 and the children aging between 2-6 years.
“At exactly 7:30pm , 41 Burkina Faso nationals were apprehended at Lawra, they were caught boarding two sprinter buses with registration numbers AW 253-14 and GE 8700-12 that were coming from Sampa in the Ahafo Region. They include 14 males aged around 20 to 50 years and ladies 21 with ages around 20 to 30 years and 6 children with age range 2-5 years” the service indicated.
Public Affairs Officer at the Ghana Immigration Service Upper West Region, ASI Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul Mumuni Seidu in a telephone conversation confirmed the arrest to Radio Waa 92.1fm and noted that the service has sent the Burkinabes back to Sampa where they were coming from considering their rules on the borders closure.
He explained that the service could not have repatriated them but rather to return them to wherever there were coming from for the needed actions to be taken by the appropriate authorities.
ASI Yussif earlier stated on Radio Waa’s Punchlines programme that, the officers of the service will always out smart those engaging in the illegality calling on citizens who live around the borders to assist the service with the needed information as the service cannot count the number of unapproved routes especially during the dry season.
In a related development, some eight ECOWAS members were arrested on the wee hours of Tuesday April 14,2020 at Babile in-land check point after they came into the country through unapproved routes.
ASI Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul-Mumuni Seidu, Public Affairs Officer of the Immigration Service Upper West Region revealed that the 8 have been scheduled for repatriation through the same routes they used in sneaking into the country after passing through medical examination conducted on them. The 8 comprised two Nigeriennes, 6 Burkinabes who were heading towards Bole and Wenchi/Techiman respectively.
“At about 0130HRS today, 14/04/20, Eight (08) ECOWAS Nationals were busted at the Babile inland check point onboard a sprinter bus with registration number BA 1223 – 19. They are made up of 2 male adult Nigeriennes heading to Bole and 6 other male adult Burkinabes heading towards Wenchi and Techiman respectively. Preliminary profiling revealed that, they had entered Ghana through unapproved routes, process are far advance in repatriating them through their various points of entry into Ghana. They were taking through preliminary health protocols by health personnel, plans are far afoot to repatriate them to their homes” Ibn Yussif stated.
Ghana’s government took the decision of closing its borders after the country recorded some confirmed cases of coronavirus and has since left the borders shut completely as a measure to contain the COVID-19.
