Another Human Cargo Grabbed

A GROUP OF YOUNGSTERS ON THE BUS

FOR THE second time in a week, another batch of human cargo was seized by the Techiman Police on Thursday, 5th August, 2010.

According to Chief Superintendent Gyau of the Techiman Police station, the human cargo, made up of 23 school-going children who were bound for Accra from Bolgatanga in a Benz bus with registration number AW4115 T, was intercepted by a police patrol team along the Tuobodom to Tamale highway at 1:30pm.
One Madam Atalata Abani, 42, who claimed to be a chop-bar operator in Bolgatanga and suspected to be the trafficker, has been arrested.
Three other women in the vehicle, who were heard coaching the children what to say to the police, were also arrested.
Chief Superintendent Gyau told DAILY GUIDE that investigations showed that the victims, whose ages range between 13 to19, hail from different parts of the Northern Region but majority of them told the police that they came from Bolgatanga.
He said the issue of human cargo and child trafficking is becoming rampant in recent times and charged the police patrol teams, particularly those on duties along the Techiman to Bolgatanga road, to intensify their searches in vehicles to help curb the menace. He also appealed to passengers to expose any child trafficker to the police for action.
In a related issue, another group of human cargo was intercepted by a joint operation of the Sunyani and Techiman patrol teams at Ahansua on the Techiman-Kumasi road. The 207 Benz bus with registration number AW 689 Y was carrying 28 children bound for Kumasi.
Chief Superintendent Gyau told DAILY GUIDE that the victims range from five to 14-years-old. He said the bus driver was escorted to Tongo, where the human cargo was loaded and warned the driver not to load human cargo again. He advised parents not to allow themselves to be tricked by the traffickers, who always promise greener pastures for their wards since “nowhere is cool,” as he put it.
It would be recalled that the 5th August edition of the DAILY GUIDE carried a similar story of child trafficking involving children between the ages of one and 14. In that incident, the bus was intercepted near Tuobodom in the Techiman Municipality.
The traffickers have adopted new tactics by giving the children money to board buses whiles they take the lead to wait for them in their final destination. This method is to avoid being arrested by the police, whiles with the children.
From Eric Bawah, Techiman
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