Afram Plains: Nine in police grips over hazardous child labour

Nine men from Edrakpota a fishing community in Afram Plains, Eastern Region, are in the grips of the police for using children for fishing and hazardous work.

Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Region Police, Francis Gomado, said police intelligence revealed that there were 11 suspected child traffickers and 24 children being kept for trafficking.
He said some of the owners of boats that work on the Volta Lake got information about the rescue mission and hid the children before the arrival of the police team.

However, the nine men arrested will be interrogated assist with further investigation.
But the Member of Parliament for the area, Betty Krosbi Mensah, has said the security forces created panic with the rescue mission.

“The action by the uniformed security men created fear and panic causing women and children to run into the bush for cover. The whereabouts of seven of the children who escaped into the bush cannot be traced 24 hours after that unfortunate incident,” she said.

The MP has appealed to “the Police High Command both at the Eastern Regional and National levels to intervene as a matter of urgency to find and locate the missing children with their parents.”



She maintains that the “nine residents (men) arrested should be released with immediate effect demanding for immediate answers as to who ordered the unprofessional arrest of the nine residents and for what reasons/offence”.
Read the MP’s full statement on the operation below.

MILITARY MEN KIDNAPPED CHILDREN IN AFRAM PLAINS IN RAMBOO STYLE

On Saturday, April, 27, 2019 between the hours 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., four (4) speed boats carrying men in military and police uniforms with one (1) white woman went to some Island communities in the Afram Plains North Constituency without any provocation amidst gunshots and in the process arrested nine (9) of my constituents.

The incident occurred at Edrakpota, one of the communities on the Didja Island which comprises 86 communities.

The action by the uniformed security men created fear and panic causing women and children to run into the bush for cover.

The whereabouts of seven (7) of the children who escaped into the bush cannot be traced 24 hours after that unfortunate incident.

No explanation was offered for the act and no one knows who ordered the arrest since contact with the Afram Plains police and Abotiase police have proven futile.

The situation has created a state of anxiety in the affected communities as parents are worried about the whereabouts of their children.

My efforts as the MP for the area to seek answers from the police has yielded no result.

The action by the uniformed men can only be described as kidnapping.

May I use this opportunity to appeal to the Police High Command, both at the Eastern regional and national levels, to intervene as a matter of urgency to find and relocate the missing children with their parents.

The nine residents (men) arrested should be released with immediate effect.

I also demand immediate answers as to who ordered the unprofessional arrest of the nine residents and for what reasons/ offence.

Thank you.

Signed

Hon Betty Krosbi Nana Afua Mensah