Challenging Heights lauds Police

Challenging Heights, a child-centred non-governmental organization, has lauded the Motto Traffic and Transport Division (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in Senya Beraku in the Central Region, for intensifying screening of vehicles for child trafficking.

A statement issued by Mr David Kofi Awusi, Advocacy Manager of Challenge Heights, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday urged police officers, especially those at various checkpoints to comply with the Inspector-General of Police’s directive, to screen vehicles for child trafficking.

It said, following the directives issued by the IGP on June 5 during the launch of the TURN BACK human trafficking campaign in Accra, Challenging Heights had continued to engage with various MTTDs to ensure that the directives were implemented.

It said on August 14, the MTTD in Senya Beraku in collaboration with the NGO screened vehicles and distributed hundreds of anti-child trafficking campaign stickers to drivers, and sensitized them on the dangers of child trafficking and their role in addressing it.

The NGO said screening vehicles for child trafficking was most urgently needed, especially during school vacation, when hundreds of children were trafficked to the Lake Volta for forced labour.

“We are also calling on the general public to report suspect passengers at police checkpoints for action,” it said.

The statement indicated that currently, 49, 000 children were working on Lake Volta. Of this number, 21,000 were engaged in hazardous child labour – work that was dangerous to the lives of the children.

It said this was the time no child should be allowed to add to the number of children working on Lake Volta at the cost of their lives and future.

Challenging Heights is a child rights organization whose vision is “a world where every child is in school and lives in a loving and caring family.”