Curfew Imposed on Hamile After Border Explosion Kills Immigration Officer

The government has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Hamile and surrounding communities in the Upper West Region after an explosion during a border patrol killed a Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officer and left another critically injured on Tuesday, November 3.

The curfew runs daily from 6:00pm to 5:00am and took effect immediately, according to MyJoyOnline, which reported that the Interior Minister imposed it by Executive Instrument on the advice of the National Security Council. The directive also bans the possession of arms, ammunition and other offensive weapons in the area, and warns that anyone found with them will be arrested and prosecuted.

What happened

According to a GIS statement reported by Citi Newsroom, four immigration officers on an early-morning patrol along an unapproved route stopped a man carrying a load on a motor tricycle. As the officers moved to inspect the load, the rider allegedly tried to flee, and the load exploded. Security sources quoted by Citi Newsroom and Radio Tamale said the tricycle was carrying suspected dynamite.

Accounts of the casualties differ. The GIS said the rider was killed and that one of the two injured officers later died. Separate preliminary reports carried by Citi Newsroom said two young people on the tricycle died, that an elderly man riding ahead on a motorbike was seriously injured, and that gunfire may have struck the suspected explosives. These details have not been officially confirmed, and the authorities have not named any of the dead.

Officer airlifted as tensions rise

Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak told Parliament that an Air Force medical team had been dispatched to airlift the injured officer from Nandom Hospital to Accra. He extended condolences to the family of the officer who died and to the Immigration Service.

The Minister also appealed to chiefs, elders and opinion leaders in Hamile to engage young people and exercise restraint, after the incident led to a confrontation between some youth in the town and security personnel, Citi Newsroom reported. No details of injuries or damage from that confrontation have been published.

The GIS said the scene has been secured and investigations are under way to establish what caused the blast. It said border operations in the Hamile sector remain fully operational, and urged the public not to share unverified information, images or videos of the incident.

Hamile, in the Lambussie District, is one of the main crossing points between Ghana and Burkina Faso. Unapproved routes around border towns remain a persistent challenge for security agencies monitoring the movement of people, goods and hazardous materials.

Source: Citi Newsroom — https://www.citinewsroom.com/2026/11/hamile-explosion-gis-cautions-public-against-circulating-unverified-reports-images/; MyJoyOnline — https://www.myjoyonline.com/govt-imposes-curfew-on-hamile-amid-confusion-over-dynamite-explosion-that-killed-immigration-officer/; Radio Tamale — https://radiotamaleonline.com/blog/2026/11/03/immigration-officer-killed-another-critically-injured-in-dynamite-explosion-at-hamile