Court Remands 9 Over Afram Plains Child Trafficking Case

A Koforidua Circuit court has remanded into police custody nine suspects who posed as foster parents and aided in child trafficking activities in the Afram Plains.

The nine were arrested at Edrekpota, an island community along the Volta Lake in Afram Plains in an operation which was carried out by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Eastern Regional Police Command, with assistance from the Navy.

Sixteen (16) out of 24 children between the ages of five and 13 who were trafficked to the community for hard labour works were rescued in the operation dubbed “Operation Ablorde”.

The accused persons, whose pleas were not taken, were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Crime and human trafficking and were remanded to reappear on May 8th, 2019 by the court presided over by Mercy Adei Kotei.

DSP Ebenezer Tetteh, the Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, who confirmed this to Citi News said the police are on the ground to rescue the other children.

The operation was linked to some confusion at Edrakpota, one of the communities on the Didja Island which comprises 86 communities.

The Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North Constituency, Betty Krosbi Mensah , in a statement over the weekend said the joint police and navy operation team created fear and panic in that constituency, leaving some people missing after they took to the bush at the sound of many gunshots.

While raising questions about the mode in which the operation was conducted, she called for the immediate release of the nine arrested persons.

—citinewsroom