U/W: 20 Burkinabes busted for entering Ghana illegally

Immigration officials in the Upper West Region have arrested 20 Burkina Faso nationals for coming into Ghana without approval amidst the Coronavirus outbreak.

The 20 were busted at Tumo-Dakpla junction in the Lawra Municipality en route Wa in the early hours of today, Wednesday, April 15, 2020.

These foreigners who are made up of 17 male adults, one female adult and two children are said to be heading to Sunyani and Brekum in the Bono Region to search for greener pastures.

They were ceased at about 06: 55 hours GMT by Operation Conquest Fist (OPF); a joint operation team on patrols following an intel.

The Burkinabes were taken to the Lawra Municipal health facility for health screening and later repatriated through their various points of entry into Ghana.

Ghana has closed its land, sea and air borders and is not allowing the movement of public buses except it is transporting goods and cargo.

The move is part of efforts to stop the spread of Coronavirus in the country, yet some foriegners continue to illegally find their way into Ghana.

Arrest of Nigeriens

For instance, two Nigeriens were arrested on April 5, 2020, when a taxi they were in was stopped by police enforcing the lockdown directive.

The two could not give tangible reasons for their movement, sparking suspicion hence their arrest.

Further investigations by police triggered a medical test on them at the Ridge Hospital whose result came back on April 13, 2020.

Less than a month ago, two Burkinabes tested positive for the virus alongside eight Guineans. They had come into Ghana from Burkina Faso.

Ghanaians smuggling in COVID-19 positive cases

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that some Ghanaians are smuggling in foreigners who are COVID-19 positive into the country.

The Information Minister while commending how such a move has helped Ghana from the importation of more positive cases said, some Ghanaians living close the nation’s borders, are smuggling in positive persons of the disease.

“Our focus is limiting and containing the spread because we can’t say our real target is zero and we will have some occurrences so it’s your ability to early contain and limit the spread that you have look at as a measure of success. In this instance, you noticed that the early efforts limited the importation of cases into the country. Even with the closure of the borders, we have Ghanaians are smuggling in positive cases into our borders but by closing the borders, we have massively reduced the risk,” the Information Minister said.

 

National outlook

A total of 636 novel coronavirus cases as of noon on April 14, 2020 have been recorded in Ghana with eight deaths and 17 recoveries.

The Greater Accra Region has the most number of cases; 509.

The Ashanti Region has 53; Eastern Region, 41; Northern Region, 10; Volta Region, nine; Upper West Region, seven; Upper East Region, four; North East Region, one; Western Region, one and the Central Region with one.