Mr Joseph Nelson, the Western Regional Minister, has tasked Ghanaian security officials on the Ghana-Ivory Coast border at Elubo, to ensure heightened vigilance to prevent illegal migrants from entering the country ahead of the Ivorian general elections.
During a working visit to the border, he stated that about 1,500 Ivorian nationals were seeking refuge in the country ahead of the October 25 presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire, and that there was the need for strict vigilance to ensure these people did not compromise Ghana’s security.
Ivory Coast is scheduled to hold its presidential elections on October 25 and some isolated cases of disturbances are being reported, with some also suggesting that some Ivorian nationals were moving into the country through the Elubo border and other unapproved routes.
Mr Nelson said: “The situation is still very fluid and so let us keep our eyes on the inflows, so that we can check the security side of things, so we do not have any surprises any day in the future.
“The elections are coming on in October as you know, and as we approach the day, I believe that a lot more of them will come, so put yourselves in readiness and with your eyes wide opened so that we do not get any criminal slipping through the system to pose a challenge to us, as far as our security is concerned.”
Deputy Commissioner of Immigration (DCI) Joshua Krakue, of the Elubo Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), said the security team were on high alert to deal with issues of illegal entry before, during and after the elections.
“The issue is that when these people are coming through the border, they do not present themselves as people who are coming to seek asylum, but as normal travellers and sometimes end up at the refugee camps,” he said.
He said it had also been noticed that the numbers were going up, so they were very high on alert to ensure that security-wise, these people did not enter the country through illegal means.
GNA
