Child traffickers remanded in prison custody

Two men who allegedly trafficked 42 children from the Northern Region have been remanded in prison custody by a Tamale Circuit Court presided over by Mr. Twumasi Ankra.

Paul Waabem, 24, a Ghanaian from Tatale in the Tatale-Sanguli District of the Northern Region domiciled in Nigeria and his colleague Moses Yaw Kumah, 27 a Togolese also based in Nigeria, are to reappear on March 16, 2016.

The trial judge directed the prosecutor to produce the parents of the victims at the next hearing so that the court will ascertain if the parents gave their consent before the infants were being taken away.

Ironically, the two suspects, according to Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), were themselves victims of child trafficking.

Northern Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Assistant Director of Immigration (ADI), Eric Afari, described the child trafficking phenomenon in the region as endemic, especially along the eastern corridor.

Touching on the hotels abiding by the Ghana Immigration Act 573 of 2000, Mr Afari said some hotels in the region are not complying with the law which mandates them to submit annual reports on foreigners to the GIS.

He hinted that his outfit will soon activate and strengthen the enforcement wing of the law but appealed to the people, especially landlords in the northern region, to report people with suspicious characters to the service and the police for the safety of everyone.