36 trafficked persons rescued on Volta lake in 2021

The Oti regional commander of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP Charles Domanba has disclosed that some 36 persons including children were rescued from human trafficking activities on the Volta lake last year.

He made the disclosure during a stakeholder engagement led by the International Justice Mission (IJM) at Kete-Krachi in the Oti region on the theme: Proactive Lake Patrol -with a focus on marine police operations and collaborations aimed at tackling human trafficking activities on the Volta lake.

“Before the introduction of the marine police, police in the Oti region have assisted the IJM in the handling of child and human trafficking cases on the Volta Lake -and for 2021, we recorded eight(8) cases. Out of these, four persons have been sent to court; one has since been convicted while three others are still facing trial. four other cases are also under investigation and we had thirty-six (36) rescues for 2021.”

As part of moves to intensify the fight against human and child trafficking activities on Ghana’s inland waters -particularly the Volta lake, the International Justice Mission (IJM) has begun a pilot project to train personnel of the marine police under the Volta Command.

So far, fifteen (15) personnel have been trained and equipped to patrol the Volta lake -a project that is expected to be officially launched by the IGP in the coming months.

The initiative according to DCOP Domanba, “Is in the right direction.”

He added that “With the coming of the marine police, they will be assisting the IJM in a professional way because they are going to patrol the Volta lake.”

Since 2015, some 318 victims who were trafficked have been rescued, according to a statistic from the IJM.

Consequently, 189 have been arrested out of which some 38 persons have been convicted.

The IJM has also trained some 18,812 persons from relevant stakeholder institutions which include personnel from the Ghana Police Service, the media, the judicial service, staff of the Department of Social Welfare.