36-year-old man jailed eight years for human trafficking

A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for human trafficking by the Jasikan Circuit Court.

Hammond Teye Ametepe pleaded guilty and was sentenced on his own plea.

He was arraigned with four other suspects on charges of prohibition of human trafficking, human trafficking and the use of a trafficked person.

However, the four other accused persons pleaded not guilty and were granted bail to reappear on July 8.

Also, one of the suspects, Michael Amedzeke, is in police custody assisting with investigations.

The Oti Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, with support from the International Justice Mission and the Krachi East Municipal Directorate of the Social Welfare Department, arrested the accused persons.

The accused persons were arrested at two fishing communities, Scalen and Njare, in the Krachi East Municipal for their alleged roles in the trafficking and exploitation of five minors.

The issue of human trafficking is lingering in Ghana and has become an international problem affecting millions of people around the world.

Human trafficking is an act of recruitment, transportation, trading, or receipt of a person within and across national borders for exploitation.

On a daily basis, many children are trafficked from their villages to work in the fishing communities and other communities actively engaging in manual labour.

In September 2020, the government released GHC1 million to help combat human trafficking in the country. The amount was released into the Human Trafficking Fund.

But the problem persists.