Betty Mensah Krosbi
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has refuted allegation made by the Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North, Betty Mensah Krosbi that the anti human trafficking unit raided her constituency and arrested her members including children who were returning from various places on the Volta Lake under the guise of being trafficked children.
“Our information is that the about 30 of our members most of whom are children were raided and have since been detained in a place unknown to the parents, chiefs or any political or religious leaders of the communities.”
She said the raid occurred at a time when the children were on vacation.
A statement issued in Accra by the director general in charge of CID, DCOP Bright Oduro, said the police acted on its constitutional mandate which states that child labour and human trafficking are criminal under the human trafficking Act 2005(Act 694).
He contended that the CID deemed it extremely important to make the facts of the issue clear to the public to correct the wrong impression that had been created about the said operations that were successfully organized to rescue children who were being exploited by some unscrupulous persons on the Volta Lake.
“The anti-human trafficking unit established by the police administration following a promulgation of the human trafficking Act, carried out its first operation on January 24, 2017 on the Volta Lake between Akosombo and Akateng in the Eastern Region where 24 children between the ages of 5 to 16 years were rescued.
He said 16 suspects were arrested in the said operation and were currently on police enquiry bail.
“In the second operation which the MP sought to refer to was also conducted on April 11, 2017 on the Volta Lake within the territories of Kpando-Torkor and Afram Plains in the Volta Region.
In that operation, the Director of CID, said 31 victims being children, including a five year old girl were rescued and eleven perpetrators arrested for interrogation but the suspects were on bail while assisting police in their investigations.
“All the victims rescued in all our operations were medically examined at the Police Hospital and upon the orders of the court the victims were legally sheltered at homes located in different places in Accra and Central Region.”
He noted that investigations conducted indicated that the victims were seen being used by their masters to scoop water from canoes, fixing and unfixing fishing nets and paddling of canoes.
“In the light of the above facts, it is clear, contrary to the petition by Betty Mensah Krosbi, that the joint operation led by the police to rescue vulnerable children who instead of being in school were being exploited by the perpetrators for their selfish economic benefits to the detriment of the development of the innocent victims, limited their operational activities on the Volta Lake.”
BY Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)