Provide information to track down human traffickers—Deputy Commander

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kwaku Osei Ampofo Duku, Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, has called for public support in the provision of credible information to help the security agencies clamp down on human trafficking in the country.

He said apart from illicit drugs and money laundering, human trafficking was the most profitable trans-national venture.

ACP Duku said the menace has now taken a new form where some travel agents promise the unsuspecting young victims with juicy travel arrangements and lucrative jobs which baits them agree to travel to the Asian and Eastern countries, only for them to be engaged in horrifying degrading jobs and servitude.

He was speaking at the launching of the “Ghana Project of Inspirational Talks 4 Women Ministries”, an international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), engaged in anti-human trafficking activities, in Kumasi.

ACP Duku said human trafficking, which was against the very foundation of God’s creation, was one of the cankers eating deep into the fabric of society, and there was the need for concerted and aggressive efforts by all well-meaning Ghanaians to fight it from all fronts.

He urged the public, especially families of victims, to boldly come out to report such incidents to the police to arrest perpetrators.

Nana Asare Bediako, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima-Nwabiagya, said human trafficking was a worrying trend which had shattered the dreams of many young people in Africa.

He stressed the need to step up efforts against poverty, which had been identified as the root cause of the menace and provide opportunities for families to engage in genuine and meaningful income-generating activities, to enable them cater for their children.

Mrs Clara Selaboy, an inspirational speaker from Nigeria, said the collective future of Africa lied in the hands of the youth and there was the need to do everything to protect them.

Mrs Beryl Esembe, Chief Executive Officer of the NGO, said the organization seeks to create awareness on the menace and provide education and training to both parents and children to equip them with skills to identify inducements and stop their children from being taking away.

She said over 150 children in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District was being supported with scholarships to attend school, adding that, the project was being implemented across the West African sub-region.

Mrs. Esembe said the organization was currently developing campaign manuals and souvenirs to educate the public on the nuisance.