A 37-year-old man has been arrested at Half Assini New Town Border Post in the Western Region for allegedly trafficking 16 children between the ages of seven and 20 to Ivory Coast for fishing.
The officer in charge of the Half Assini Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, ACI Kenneth Arhinful, explained that their enforcement officers received a message from two customs officers that the suspect, Kwame Tawiah, was leading a group including underaged children to cross the border using an illegal route.
The officers acted quickly and arrested the suspect. Together with the victims, they were taken to New Town Border Post at Jomoro for official identification and questioning.
After the investigation, they discovered that all the victims were indigenes of the Central Region and 11 out of the 16 victims were girls whilst five were boys.
The interrogation also revealed the suspect had consent from the parents of some of the victims and had coached them to lie about their ages.
ACI Kenneth Arhinful said due to the severity of the crime, the suspect has been handed over to the Half Assini Police Station for further investigation, whilst the victims have been sent to the Social Welfare Department of the area for further inquiries.
Meanwhile, the victims’ parents are being hunted to ensure they face the law accordingly.
