"In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are going all out within our capacity and capabilities to ensure that the President's directive on border closure is tacitly enforced", a statement signed by the Upper West Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GIS has said.

It said aside efforts to fulfill their operational mandate of barring prohibited, irregular and undocumented migrants into Ghana, they were also inspired by the Comptroller General of the Service not to jeopardise the secret sacrosanct trust that they swore to uphold.

The statement indicated that in their line of duty, the GIS officials at the Hamile Police Barrier in the Lambussie District intercepted six illegal migrants, including five Burkina Faso nationals and a Nigerian, aged between 20 and 35 years.

It said their investigations revealed that they were aided by some commercial motorbike (okada) riders to enter into Ghana through an unapproved route at Hamile. The statement added that the migrants were travelling to Kumasi and Techiman to engage in economic activities.

According to the statement, the illegal migrants had been screened for the COVID-19 and handed over to the Burkina Faso authorities for the necessary process to continue.

In a related development, the GIS officials at the Beat-2 and Botoma, both unapproved routes bordering Burkina Faso at Hamile, arrested nine foreign nationals at the weekend for sneaking into Ghana.

They included a Nigerian national resident in Burkina Faso and eight Burkinabe nationals comprising four females and five males, aged between five and 36.

"They were ceased on motorbikes with registration numbers 32-MU-8397 and two other unregistered ones respectively, travelling to Bole, Tuna, and Kumasi for farming and livestock activities", the GIS said.

It noted that the Port Health personnel had screened the migrants and handed them over to the Burkina Faso authorities.

"We call on citizens of the border communities to collaborate with the Ghana Immigration Service to end the menace of illegal migration into Ghana, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic", the statement said.