A bus carrying twenty (20) ECOWAS nationals was intercepted as they attempted to enter Ghana illegally, Immigration Officials said on Wednesday.

The bus with registration number AS 1614–20 was enroute to Kumasi in the Ashanti from Hamile in the Upper West Region, officials say.

Public Affairs Officer for the Ghana Immigration Service in the Upper West Region, Assistant Inspector Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul-Mumin Seidu confirmed the development to dailymailgh.com.

He said the arrest was made following intelligence corroborated from the Hamile Sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service.

“Investigations revealed that they 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, Techiman in the Bono East Region, Sampa in the Bono Region and Bole in the Savannah Region. The purposes for their migration includes trading, family visits as well as economic and farming activities”, the officer said in a statement.

The migrants comprised a Malian and Nineteen (19) Burkina Faso nationals. They were made up of eighteen (18) males and two females with their ages ranging between seven and forty-seven years.

They have since been taken through the health screening process by the personnel from the Ghana Health Service before being escorted to the Hamile border post where they were handed over to Burkina Faso authorities on the other side of the border.