We'll Increase Patrol On Volta Lake to Check Child Trafficking

By Yaw Kyei

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed the government's commitment to ensure that security on the Volta Lake is increased to check the menace of child trafficking on the lake.

The President's commitment was in response to a call by the International Justice Mission (IJM) for the government to direct the police to beef up anti-child trafficking patrols on the Volta Lake.

The issue came up at a meeting between President Akufo-Addo and the Chief Executive of IJM, Gary Haugen, at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.

Mr Gary noted that intelligence available to his outfit indicated that child trafficking was still prevalent on the Volta Lake and stressed the need to increase security on the lake.

According to him, due to the vast nature of the lake, it was important that the police increase its patrol on it to check the menace.

"This is something we have learnt from our experience and wanted to perhaps pass it along as a point of consideration for your office."

In response, President Akufo-Addo described the suggestion of the IJM as a "good observation" and expressed the commitment to draw the attention of the police to the matter.

The IJM extended an invitation to the President to be its Special Guest at the Justice Conference, an event aimed at bringing all the major church leaders in Ghana together.

Participants of the forum are expected to find ways through which the Christian community can assist in the fight against human rights abuses.

International Justice Mission is an international, non-governmental organisation focused on advocating for the respect for human rights and rule of law.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered at Washington D.C in the United States, IJM has 17 field offices in Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and five partner offices in North America, Europe and Australia.

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