The pupils had turns to ask questions and answers were provided to them
Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), an NGO committed to ending all forms of human rights abuses in the country has enlightened over 200 pupils of the Hilen Springfield School in Accra on modus operandi, techniques and pranks of kidnappers in the country.
The sensitization exercise which was staged at the Hilen Springfield School campus in the early hours of March 28, 2019 saw participants adequately equipped and empowered with knowledge on how to outwit the pranks kidnappers employ to lure their unsuspecting victims.
They were also provided with guidelines and tips on how to unearth those pranks whenever they happened to encounter movement of the so-called kidnappers anywhere near them.
The sensitization exercise which was more of an interactive session was conducted by a team of volunteers made up of lawyers, journalists and human rights activists who are members of the distinguished Human Rights group.
The pupils had turns to ask questions and answers were provided to them in satisfaction.
According to Mr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor, the Executive Director of the group, the need to embark on the sensitization campaign was informed by the rising spate of kidnapping issues involving the youth especially school-going age girls and children in recent times.
The move seeks to help demystify the kidnapping phenomenon in order to help save the country from unrest including other human rights violations that characterized the nation.
"Apart from sensitizing the students on kidnapping issues, Teenage Pregnancy and Tramadol abuse are equally two areas of major concern to us which we will be focusing on as an organization under our project for the year".
Ghana has been rocked with issues of kidnapping in recent times.
The missing of 21-year-old Priscilla Blessing Bentum on August 17, 2018 followed by 18-year-old Ruth Love Quayson on December 4, 2018 including the phenomenomenal disappearance of 18-year-old Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie since December 21, 2019 without any trace have been a great cause of worry not only to their families but to the entire nation.
Commenting on the sensitization exercise by HRRG, Headmaster of Hilen Springfield School, Mr. Daniel Mensah noted the initiative is a laudable one which ought to be replicated in other schools in the country.
He therefore appealed to well-meaning Ghanaians, corporate institutions, nonprofit organizations among others to support the efforts of the Human Rights group to further take the campaign to other schools within the ten regions of Ghana.
"It's very pathetic to see children of school-going age kidnapped these days and we don't even know their whereabouts at all"
"So is a good initiative that it should be replicated across the entire country so that children can learn from it".
The Protocol Prefect of Hilen Springfield School, Michael Dadzie in an interview advised his colleague students to desist from accepting gifts from strangers.
He also cautioned them against plying through secluded routes to avoid being kidnapped.
Daniel confirmed he has benefited greatly from the training received and was convinced his colleagues did same.
The Hilen Springfield School was established in 2006 by Elder Ernest Danso as a Private Educational Institute to groom students and instil in them Christian values and principles to achieve academic and moral excellence, gain self-confidence among others.
The school, which is situated at Gbawe-Zero within the Greater Accra Region has a population of over 200 students and is noted to have produced brilliant crops of students who are currently pursuing their higher education in top senior high and tertiary schools in the country.
