Police Rescues girls from being trafficked from Ghana to Togo

More than ten children have been rescued by police officials in Ghana from a suspected trafficker in the Volta Region of the country close to the Togolese border. Police officials in the area say the children (all girls) were bound for Togo and the trafficker had arranged to sell them to interested parties in Togo. Preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of the bus alerted the police when the trafficker who was identified only as Owusu boarded the bus with the children and started showing some strange attitude towards the children. The trafficker had told the driver that the children were his relatives but failed to even provide enough details about the children leading to the bus driver reporting the matter to the police.

District Police commander in the area, Superintended Joseph Acka told Cameroon Concord that investigations are already underway, adding that he believes the children were from towns and villages around the River Volta. The River Volta area is noted for child trafficking in Ghana. “We were told that their parents actually agreed that they go with a certain young man who gave his name as Samuel and according to that young man he is taking them to Wabolabo near Asikuma and they are going to do maize farming”, Mr.Acka said. The trafficker has since been detained in police custody and will soon be prosecuted with the crime he has committed, according to the police.

Ghana is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution in neighboring countries.. The Government of Ghana demonstrated improved anti human trafficking law enforcement efforts last year. It prohibited all forms of trafficking through its 2005 Human Trafficking Act which prescribes a minimum penalty of five years’ imprisonment for all forms of trafficking. In June 2009, Ghana convicted three Chinese nationals of trafficking eight Chinese women to Ghana for exploitation and prostitution. But despite all these efforts, human rights activists have criticized the Ghanaian government of not employing formal procedures for the identification of victims of human trafficking.