A team of immigration officers led by the Asankragwa Municipal Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Francis Kofi Apaw, together with officers from the Ghana Police Service and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) on patrols on Friday, May 1 intercepted two Nissan Caravan mini buses with registration numbers GX 2137-17 and AS 1899-17 en route to Kumasi with 18 West African nationals on board.

The arrested, all males and aged between 17 and 55 years, are made up of 17 Burkinabe nationals and one Ivorian national.

Investigations conducted after their arrest, proved that all the suspects had entered the country through an unidentified illegal route at Sewum in the Aowin Municipality of the Western North Region.

A statement signed by the Western Region Public Affairs Officer of GIS, Assist. Insp. Moses Manford Akakpo, and copied to 3news.com explained that due to the severity of the security challenges in the wake of the fight against the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic, a meeting was immediately convened where a unanimous decision was taken to see to the immediate repatriation of those arrested.

“At the Sewum Border Post, which falls under the Dadieso Sector Command of GIS, a team of Immigration Officers led by the 2IC, DSI/Desmond Alabison, received the subjects for further investigations; before finally handing them over to the Ivorian authorities,” the statement indicated.

Friday’s arrest brings the number of interceptions and repatriation of persons made by the Ghana Immigration Service in the Western Region, through intensified surveillance/patrols and with the support of the various sister security agencies, to about 190 since the closure of the country’s borders.

The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, through the release, reaffirmed its unwavering commitment in ensuring the continuous maintenance of optimum security within the various entry points in the region.

It appealed to all well-meaning people of the Western Region, especially the leadership of the communities dotted across the border lines as well as transport operators, to assist by volunteering useful information that will lead to the arrest of any person or group of persons who will try to enter the country illegally.