The Ghana Immigration Service inland post at Savelugu, over the weekend intercepted and returned nineteen Burkinabe nationals who entered the country though unapproved routes.
The nineteen men said they were coming into the country to visit some sick relatives in Ghanaian hospitals and to transact business.
According to the Regional Public Affairs officer of the Immigration Service, Christian Zilevu, the Burkinabe nationals offered bribes to immigration officials to allow them a safe passage, but their offer was rejected
Mr. Zilevu explained that, despite efforts to protect Ghanaian borders, some residents in border communities continue to smuggle people across the various borders on the blind side of immigration officers.
“You know the country is not fenced, even though officers are on duty patrolling under “Operation Conquest Fist, the border residents are not cooperating with the officers,” he noted
The northern half of Ghana has hundreds of unapproved routes into the Ivory coast, Burkina Faso and Togo.
Despite the closure of borders due to the coronavirus, many people exploit the porous borders aided by residents of border communities.
The first ten confirmed cases of covid-19 in the northern region, were all foreign Nationals, including two Burkinabe nationals and eight Guineans.
