16-yr-old girl rescued from forced labour in Ada

A 16-year-old girl has been rescued and reunited with her family through an intervention of a Ghana based non-profit making organisation, Engage Now Africa (ENA), in partnership with elders of Big Ada in the Greater Accra region.

The victim, identified as Gifty was sold into slavery by her family after a local pastor in the area allegedly prophesied that, Gifty is a "curse" to her family in late 2018.

She was allegedly sold for an amount of GH¢500.00 after which she was first trafficked to Yeji in the Bono East region, where she served her master in fishing and among other hard labors.

According to her aunt who reported to the ENA's rescue mission team dubbed, "End Modern Slavery", parents of the victims allegedly takes GH¢50.00 and sometimes GH¢100.00 per month from the slave master.

The Director of the organization, Mr Afasi Komla told the media that he first visited the victim in September 2019, adding that, upon hearing the unfortunate story, he led his team to rescue the girl on Sunday, 15 August 2020.

He said: "Gifty happens to be one of those children who have found themselves in such a barbaric situation in Ghana. Most indigenous communities and families are easily persuaded by some soothsayers who are believed to be endowed with some powers to see into the inner spirit of human beings and therefore are able to make accurate declarations of a person's being and character, which "Gifty happens to fall victim as one of those underprivileged children who suffers such atrocious actions in some Ghanaian communities. By this declaration, family members believe that she is evil and pose a threat to them, so long as she remains in the same household with them," he added

Mr. Afasi explained that the cause of human trafficking is "poverty, ignorance and development gap" between urban and rural centres hence the need for programmes and initiatives to combat the development.

"We have highly educated people fall victims of fraud and trafficking, due to lack of knowledge on the subject. The solution to these challenges is to create awareness, advocate against modern slavery, facilitate a deeper understanding of the human trafficking in vulnerable communities and provide sustainable livelihood support training program to the vulnerable" he noted. The team, led by Mr Afasi also sensitised the victim's family on dangers involved in the menace and encouraged parents, especially settlers in fishing communities to desist from such acts.

The team also provided some victim support services and placed Gifty under her aunt's care.

Mr Afasi called on the general public to collaborate with them to end the phenomenon.