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The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has announced the establishment of the National Enforcement and Intelligence Bureau (NEIB) to strengthen the intelligence and enforcement network of the Service. The Bureau is also to develop pragmatic, effective, efficient and intelligence gathering mechanism to support national security. Dr Peter Wiredu, Director of GIS, made the announcement at the opening of the maiden conference of the NEIB which brought together all intelligence and enforcement officers of the Service commands across the country in Accra. Dr Wiredu said the Bureau was in line with the plans towards a new institutional direction in meeting its strategic objectives of managing migration, defending against irregular migration and contributing to national security. He said the amalgamation of the intelligence and enforcement units to form the new Bureau under a single leadership was one of the strategies to ensure that its activities were well coordinated and strategically aligned to support intelligence-led operations. Dr Wiredu said the new Bureau shall comprise enforcement unit, intelligence unit, Anti-Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons Unit (AHSTIP) and Document Fraud Expertise Centre (DFEC) headed by an Assistant Director of the Service. He said the DFEC was a strategic intelligence organ that would support the intelligence section with generation and dissemination of reports on document fraud trends and coordinates it activities closely with AHSTIP. Dr Wiredu stressed that the establishment of the new Bureau would lead the drive towards redeeming the corporate image of the Service by making the operations effective and visible and exhibit high standards of professionalism. He said companies and organizations that would refuse to comply with lawful requests by enforcement officers and other obligations under the Immigration Act would be committing an offence and such acts made them liable to prosecution. Mr Laud Ofori Affrifah, Head of the NEIB, said the enforcement and intelligence gathering required a lot of movement and that the Service�s vehicles were in short supply since the demand was going to be higher as all regions will have the bureau. Mr Affrifah said the service would need to train officers in various aspects of investigation and intelligence methods and that funds would be needed for both covert and overt operations. He said the Service would need logistics in the form of computers and other office equipment and communication gadgets and beef up its staff strength to ensure the success of the new operations of the Service.