• “It is unfortunate that our own people are agents for VIP and OA. They hide the passengers in their rooms and buy the tickets for them, when the bus gets to some [vantage points], they pick them and when they get to the barrier, immigration officers have to drop them and carry them back to Hamile and repatriate them. This is the modus operandi of our own people in the communities.”
Immigration officials at the Hamile border post in the Upper West Region are unhappy that community members along the border assist foreigners to illegally enter the country.
Ghana closed its borders in March 2020 in a bid to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus.
But since the border closure, more foreign nationals continue to be arrested in the Northern part of the country using unapproved routes to enter Ghana.
Others are being processed to be repatriated.
The Nandom Municipal Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service, Lawrence Ashiara, says in spite of efforts to enforce the ban, some individuals continue to smuggle Burkinabe nationals into the country.
Addressing a meeting of chiefs and queen mothers at Nandom, he said:
“It is unfortunate that our own people are agents for VIP and OA. They hide the passengers in their rooms and buy the tickets for them, when the bus gets to some [vantage points], they pick them and when they get to the barrier, immigration officers have to drop them and carry them back to Hamile and repatriate them. This is the modus operandi of our own people in the communities.”
The meeting was organized by the centre for indigenous knowledge and organizational development with support from the Nandom municipal COVID task-force to raise awareness on COVID-19 and to solicit the support of traditional leaders in the fight against the pandemic.
Latest arrest
Last Tuesday, four Burkina Faso nationals were arrested by Immigration officials at Babile in the Upper West Region for illegally entering Ghana.
Their ages range between 22 and 39.
The four were arrested on board a Hyundai Grace H300 mini bus with registration number AS 3289-11, en route to Wa.
Investigations showed that their migration was for economic purposes.
They were screened at the checkpoint and sent to Hamile Immigration Control for repatriation to their home country.
President Nana Akufo Addo has already promised to deal with foreigners who enter Ghana and nationals who aid them illegally.
He warned that “not only will persons who enter our country illegally be strictly dealt with, but so will Ghanaians who facilitate their entry.”
“These are unpatriotic acts and must stop. We cannot continue to allow a few persons, who are motivated by their own selfish, money-making interests, to endanger the lives of the rest of the population.”
The President had earlier closed the country’s borders indefinitely as part of measures to fight the Coronavirus.
Credit to Source: Citi News Room
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