The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has nabbed 18 foreign nationals at Kucheni temporal checkpoint in the Jirapa municipality.

The suspects comprising 12 males and six females were arrested at about 8:45 am on Friday morning.

They were on board a Yutong Bus with registration number GC 5114 - Z journeying to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

They include; 11 Malian nationals, five Guineans, one Gambian and one Sierra Leone national with their ages ranging between seven and 47 years.

The Upper West Regional PRO of GIS, Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul-Mumin Seidu, in a release to the media indicated that the 18 foreign nationals entered the country via unapproved routes.

“The purpose of their visit include business, family visits as well as medical care,” the release added.

The suspects have been handed over to authorities of Burkina Faso after screening by the health authorities at the port of entry.

Below is the full statement:

At about 0845HRS, this morning, the vigilant Immigration Service personnel on duty at the Kucheni Temporal Checkpoint in the Jirapa Municipality rounded up some 18 Foreign National onboard a Yutong Bus with registration number GC 5114 - Z journeying to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Our preliminary investigations revealed that they entered into Ghana through unapproved routes. The purpose of their visit include business, family visits as well as medical care.

The busted undocumented migrants were made up of 11 Malian nationals, five Guineans, one Gambian and one Sierra Leone national.

Their ages ranged between seven and 47 years. They comprised 12 males and six females.

They were screened by the port health authorities before being handed over to the Burkina Faso authorities on the other side of the border at about 10:15 am at the Hamile Border Post.

It's important to note that while the personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service is determined to subdue the menace of irregular migration, we're also enforcing the President's directive on the land borders closure.

With the full backing of the Comptroller General of Ghana Immigration Service, we're leaving no stone unturned in in our resolve to combat illegal migration.

To those who are complicit in this illegality, we can assure them that their days of reckoning are closer.

Signed:

Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul-Mumin Seidu