Ghana police rescues 39 trafficked Nigerians in Central region

At least 39 Nigerian victims of human trafficking have been rescued by police in Ghana’s Central Region.

The operation at Gomoa Pomadze led to the arrest of two suspects—Paul Okafor and Duru Favour – also Nigerians.

They have been detained to assist the police in the investigation.

A statement from the Central Region Police Command read: “On July 12, 2020, upon information received from an informant, the Winneba District Police Commander dispatched a Police Patrol team to Gomoa Pomadze where they met 3 Ghanaians in the company of Charles Ikorohk, aged 21 and a Nigeria. Charles Ikorohk told the team that he arrived into the country from Nigeria to visit a friend but couldn’t trace him and got stranded.”

DSP Irene Oppong, the Central Regional Police Spokesperson, said Charles Ikorohk told the team that he met one Uzo at the Kwame Nkrumah interchange area who later introduced him to Arisuezo another Nigerian who transported him to Winneba and kept him in a walled house together with other young Nigerians who were locked up in a room, prevented from leaving the compound and subjected to other inhuman treatment as well as engaging in cybercrime.

DSP Irene Oppong indicated that the victims were brought in by their masters from Nigeria to engage in cybercrimes and were given targets to reach but were abused if they fail to meet their target.

She added that one of the suspects, Michael Arisuezo is currently on the run calling on the general public to provide information leading to his arrest.

The Regional Police Command explained that 36 laptops were also retrieved from the house while the owner of the house where the Nigerians were kept is on police enquiry bail.

The 39 victims have been handed over to the Central Regional Anti Human Trafficking Unit and are currently kept at a shelter centre.

The command is, however, calling on the General Public to provide information leading to the arrest of Michael Arisuezo the main suspect in the case.

“We are calling on the general public to provide information leading to the arrest of Michael Arisuezo,” DSP Irene Oppong told Accra-based Citi FM.

More than 40 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking, according to the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation (ILO), 75 percent of whom are female.