DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the Immigration Officers at the Honuta Border Post in the Ho West District of the Volta Region have foiled a human trafficking attempt at Kpedze.
A source at Kpedze disclosed that, in all, about 12 ladies were rounded up by the Immigration officers when they stormed their hideout at Kpedze Zongo last Tuesday, 13 June, 2017.
The source narrated that on that fateful Tuesday afternoon, the ladies who were believed to be between the ages of 20 and 30 years respectively were brought into the town by a gentleman who lodged them in a house at Kpedze Zongo.
A few hours later, officials of the Ghana Immigration Service(GIS) stationed at the Honuta Border Post stormed the house, possibly after a tip-off.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that the ladies were from Accra, Brong Ahafo, Kumasi and Northern Ghana and were camped in Accra before being sent to Kpedze, a border community in the Ho West District.
They were expected to be transported via motorbikes into neighbouring Togo as though they were residents of the area, crossing to do business in Togo. From Togo, they will then go through Benin or Nigeria then to Saudi Arabia.
When contacted, the Assistant Superintendent of Immigration, in charge of the Honuta Border Post confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, but refused to give details.
He however disclosed that the ladies had been processed and transferred to the Sector command at Nyive for onward referral to the Regional Command in Ho, then to the National Command in Accra.
This will be the second time in a week that Immigration officials had intercepted a suspected child and human trafficking attempt in the region. About a week ago, Immigration officials at the Aflao Border post prevented about 20 ladies from crossing into Lome, Togo, on suspected human trafficking attempt.
The use of the border posts, particularly the Togo border, has emerged as a new strategy by human trafficking syndicates to transport their victims to Arabian countries.
Apparently the old system of using the Kotoka International Airport has become risky after Immigration and other Airport officials began to clamp down on them.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (freduoo@gmail.com)