Court grants bail to alleged child trafficker
An Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday granted a GH¢3000 bail with one surety to Kwabena Seidu Ogaloko, a Togolese detained for allegedly trafficking three Ghanaian boys to work as shop assistants in Nigeria.
The bail follows a denial by one of the victims in court that the accused was not the person who trafficked them to Nigeria.
Ms Sediman Agbemava, the trial judge who was not happy with the prosecution’s handling of the case had no option than to admit the accused to bail even though the offence was a non-bailable one.
She accused the Police of not carrying out thorough investigations into the matter and therefore, had detained the accused unlawfully.
Ms Agbemava said the accused also had the right to file a suit against the Police for detaining him unlawfully.
The prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mary Agbozo said the Police’s inability to get to the bottom of the case was caused by the chain of arrests of the accused person had been subjected to.
She said the BNI arrested the accused at Ofosu near Dambai in the Krachi East District of the Volta Region, but before he could be brought down to Accra, the DCE for the area had caused the release of the victims.
ASP Agbozo said it became a bit difficult for the BNI in Accra to get all the victims around to assist the Police in the investigations.
She assured the court she would bring the other two victims at the next sitting of the court to testify. The case has been adjourned to March 1.
The facts as presented by the prosecution are that the accused, Ogaloko is a Togolese residing at Ofosu near Dambai in the Krachi East District of the Volta Region.
The prosecutor said sometime in 2010, intelligence gathered indicated that the accused had recruited three boys Agyei, Ganyoh and Sunday at Dambai and trafficked them to Nigeria under the pretext of buying them motor bikes, roofing sheets and cash if they agreed to work eight years in that country as shop assistants.
ASP Agbozo said Ogaloko, however, sold the three boys to one Alhaji Sumaila of Illorin State who used them as farm hands in 2010 and 2011.
She said the victims, however, escaped after years of inhuman treatment and found their way to Benin where they were eventually assisted by security officials to cross the border.
Source: GNA