The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery has disclosed that seven Nigerians and an American have been arrested for attempting to enter the country illegally.

He said although the country’s borders have been closed to traffic due to the coronavirus, these persons attempted to enter the country through illegal routes along Ghana’s eastern border.

“We’ve locked them up,” he disclosed in an interview with Joseph Opoku Gakpo outside Parliament on Tuesday. He, however, did not give further details about the arrest or when it was made.

No need for a lockdown

Responding to calls for the country to be put on lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Minister described the move as unnecessary.

According to him current plans instituted by government to protect Ghanaians are yielding results, therefore, a lockdown is not necessary.

“The measures that are necessary have been put in place. From the security standpoint, we have closed our airport, borders and you do know that those who came in are subjected to mandatory quarantine and tests are ongoing…

“We are doing all that is necessary, we are not interested in jargon...lockdown or lockup…the measures that have been put in place are meant to make sure that people restrict their movement and do not move if it is not necessary to move,” he said.

As Ghana’s COVID-19 cases continue to increase – 52 as of March 24 – many, including the opposition NDC has called on government to effect an immediate lockdown to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Builsa North MP, James Agalga has cautioned government not to wait for an 'Italy situation' before it moves to effect a complete lockdown of the country.

“Do we want to wait till we have the situation that Italy now has on its hands before we begin to contemplate those measures? This is an emergency situation and government must demonstrate the fortitude to deal with this matter,” he said.

But the Interior Minister says enough is already being done.

What Ghanaians should be doing, he indicated, is to assist the security agencies with information on people who are trying to enter the country illegally through unapproved routes.

“All those who want to use illegal and unauthorized routes, give us the information and let us stop them.

“If they bring in the disease, even you who failed to inform us will not be safe so all we ask for is increase support, give us the information and let’s work together to secure our borders,” he added.