Terrorists from Burkina Faso and other parts of the Sahel are able to visit Ghana, use Ghanaian hospitals and go back to where they came from, according to Ghana’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Boniface Gambila Adagbila.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event in the Upper East Region, he painted a grim picture of the threats the country and other West African coastal states face from terrorism spilling down from neigbouring Burkina Faso and other parts of the Sahel. 

“The serious threat is between Burkina and Niger and Mali, and then to the east, and then to the west, that is where the terrorists movement occurs most. Believe it or not, they are able to come into Ghana and go back. Yes, they move in and go back, and they roam, they come to our hospitals and go back. But governments are working at that. It’s not something we need top dilate so much about.

“They also know... when they are attacked north, north-east, west, they think that they have a safe haven coming down south of Burkina and they come as far as to our frontiers, and we need to be careful.”

According to the ambassador, seven Ghanaians who went missing after entering Burkina Faso last year are yet to be found.

He cautioned Ghanaians who want to travel to that country to use approved routes only and process their documents officially, adding that the two countries are still working together to find the missing persons.

Two others; herders who had gone in search of their missing cattle, had been confirmed killed.

Only last Friday, National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah expressed similar concerns wondering why the security agencies of the affected countries cannot crush the terrorists.

He was speaking at an event organised by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), in collaboration with the Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) dubbed “Support to strengthen capacities for promoting efficiency in the implementation of the Accra Initiative in West Africa and the Sahel.”

For his part, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Hisanobu Mochizuki said Japan would provide approximately USD500 million over the next three years to contribute to peace and stability as well as promote sustainable growth in the Sahel region and neighbouring Gulf of Guinea coastal countries.