507 illegal immigrants have been arrested in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East, by a combined team of the Police, Ghana Immigration Service and National Security, according to Ghanaian Times.
Those arrested, who are between the ages of 19 and 35 years, comprised 494 Nigerians, including six females, and 13 Burkinabes. They were reported to have entered the country through unapproved routes.
The exercise, which was conducted in areas including Zaare, Sokabisi and Yekeni, was to check the influx ofillegal immigrants and criminal activities in the municipality.
The Director of the Police Public Affairs, Superintendent of Police Sheila KessieAbayie-Buckman, who disclosed these to the Ghanaian Times in Accra, stating that the illegal immigrants entered the country whiles the borders were closed as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Abayie-Buckman said the raid was conducted as a result of concerns raised by residents in the municipality about the influx of foreigners who engaged in criminal activities.
She also said there had been series of robberies in the municipality recently, hence the need to embark on such operation to clamp down on criminal activities.
Abayie-Buckman said the Upper East Regional Police Command in partnership with the other security agencies embarked on the exercise and arrested the suspects who did not have resident permits.
She stated the suspects had since been conveyed in buses to Immigration Headquarters, Accra, and Paga border Immigration, for screening and repatriation to their respective countries.