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The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has stepped up efforts to fight persons who use the eastern corridor of the country to traffic humans outside the country.

In view of this, GIS, together with other relevant security agencies, has intensified security at all borders of the country to curb the menace.

Speaking to the media during a meeting with officials from the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, Comptroller-General, GIS, disclosed that his outfit had intercepted 150 girls who were being trafficked out of the country in the last three weeks.

According to Mr Takyi, the girls, who were between the ages of 18 and 28, were being smuggled outside the country to the gulf regions.

“Our officers and men are on the ground and taking risks to protect our borders and making sure people are not smuggled out.

“For the past three weeks, we’ve been able to intercept, through intelligence information, ladies who were being trafficked to the Gulf regions,” he said.

He added that “because we have been able to more or less defeat them in the use of Kotoka International Airport, they have decided to use the eastern corridors and some of the borders. We are on top of the job relating to human trafficking.”

He further charged the media to educate the public about the dangers of engaging in illegal migration.

Also speaking at the meeting, Isaac Crentsil, Commissioner, CEPS, said it was necessary for the two services to join forces in protecting the country.

This, he explained, was the best way of ensuring that the country was protected from illegal immigrants and trades.

“It has now become necessary that we put notes together because of the directives that His Excellency the Vice President has issued about the removal of all internal barriers along the transit routes,” he told the press.

Fighting border crimes

The Commissioner indicated that the two services are mapping up strategies to fight crimes at the various borders of the country, hence the meeting.

“There are lots of trans-border crimes across the world and these people take advantage of porous borders.

“It is important that the two institutions (CEPS and GIS) collaborate in the national interest to ensure that our borders are protected from these bad people,” he stated.

Commissioner Crentsil, on the other hand, reiterated the need for the security agencies to collaborate to fight border crimes.

He said “we are going to extend the same gesture to the police service and other security agencies to help us manage our border areas.”

CEPS warns debtors

The Commissioner of CEPS disclosed that his outfit has been able to collect an amount of GH¢ 6 billion out of the expected GH¢ 6.7 billion by the end of June this year.

According to him, the service is on an upward trend in terms of collecting revenue and warned the trading public to settle all outstanding debt owed the service before they go hard on them.

“The debt collection team is going very hard on our debtors, but I want to appeal to our trading partners who owe us to make arrangements to pay their debts so that they will not be put in an embarrassing situation,” he said.