A joint security force along the Tumu border in the Upper West Region has arrested 8 burkinabes for entering the country.
This follows the closure of borders by President Akufo-Addo as part of measures in containing the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana.
Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Sisala East, Mr. Karim Nanyua in a radio interview today said the 8 were picked up yesterday by joint immigration and the police task force upon a tip-off.
''Yesterday around 7:12 pm, I got a call from one of my community chiefs with the complain that some Burkinabes are passing through his community purported to be going to a different community and they were intercepted. So quickly, I advised them not to get closer to them and prevent them from going so quickly I arranged the police and immigration to go, they went and brought them to Tumu police station’’.
He further lamented the numerous unapproved routes along the Ghana-Burkina border which is likely to facilitate illegal entry since most communities along that border share farmlands with neighbors on the other side
''Tumu shares borders with Burkina Faso and between Tumu and Burkina Faso, there is no wall that can prevent people from coming in. Even some of us share farmlands with some people at Burkina. So it's very easy for people to move from Tumu to Burkina Faso or from Burkina Faso to Tumu because there is a lot of unapproved routes. It's not as if the borders are not monitored, there is a lot of work ongoing but technically it's very difficult to prevent somebody coming from Burkina Faso to Tumu or Tumu to Burkina Faso, you can only manage the situation’’.
READ ALSO:Ghana's COVID-19 case count now 641, 83 persons recover fully
However, as at today April 16, 2020, Burkina Faso had confirmed 542 Covid-19 cases with 32 deaths and 226 recoveries. Whilst Ghana’s Covid-19 cases has risen to 641 with 83 recoveries and 8 deaths.
READ ALSO:Â Many arrested for flouting border closure directive - GIS