At least 39 Nigerian victims of human trafficking have been rescued with two suspects —Paul Okafor and Duru Favour— who are also Nigerians, arrested by the police in Ghana’s Central Region.
A statement from the Central Region Police Command reads,
“On July 12, 2020, upon information received from an informant, the Winneba District Police Commander dispatched a Police Patrol team to Gomoa Pomadze where they met 3 Ghanaians in the company of a 21-year-old Nigerian, Charles Ikorohk.
Charles told the team that he arrived into the country from Nigeria to visit a friend but couldn’t trace him and got stranded.”
DSP Irene Oppong, the Central Regional Police Spokesperson, revealed that Charles told the team that he met one Uzo at the Kwame Nkrumah interchange area who later introduced him to a Nigerian, Arisuezo, who kept him in a walled house together with other young Nigerians who were locked up in a room, prevented from leaving the compound and subjected to other inhuman treatment as well as engaging in cybercrime.
He however managed to escape on 12/7/20 when he was asked to weed the compound of the house and their supervisors went out with one of the victims to a Mobile money vendor to withdraw cash fraudulently received.
DSP Irene Oppong indicated that the victims were brought in by their masters from Nigeria to engage in cybercrimes and were given targets to reach but were abused if they fail to meet their target.
She added that one of the suspects, Michael Arisuezo, is currently on the run calling on the general public to provide information leading to his arrest.
The Regional Police Command explained that 36 laptops were also retrieved from the house while the owner of the house where the Nigerians were kept is on police enquiry bail.
The 39 victims have been handed over to the Central Regional Anti Human Trafficking Unit and are currently kept at a shelter centre.
