21 Nigerian youths who were saved from a group of Nigerian human traffickers operating in the country by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) were deported yesterday.
The rescued kids, who ranged in age from 15 to 20, were apprehended by EOCO last month during a raid to detain certain suspects in cybercrime.
Investigations revealed that they were actually victims of the country's ongoing human trafficking, which is why EOCO decided to deport them back to their home country.
Nana Antwi, the Deputy Executive Director in charge of Operations at EOCO, stated during a news conference that EOCO, an NGO, and the Nigerian High Commission worked together to plan the repatriation exercise.
He said that the swoop was planned on September 26 at a site in Accra under the direction of intelligence.
He said that the victims and the seven suspects were taken from a residence where all the Nigerians were being schooled in Internet cyber fraud while being kept by the alleged human traffickers.
Relating what had happened, Nana Antwi said: "On that day, 28 people were arrested. We had the firm conviction that the arrest covered both the victims and the organisers of the trafficking. Subsequent investigative processes revealed that, in actual fact, of the number, 28 young males whose ages were not above 20 years were trafficked from Nigeria and brought to Ghana, housed, given computers and other accessories and were being trained on how to conduct criminal activity with the gadgets."
He said that since October 3, the seven suspects had appeared in the court to address allegations regarding the crimes they were suspected of committing.
"As a result of the sorting and critical analysis, we found it prudent to separate the victims from the suspects," he said.
Nana Antwi thanked the security organizations whose assistance made the operation effective and the subsequent deportation of the victims possible.
"In fact, an hour from now, they will start the journey towards their home country, Nigeria. There has been close collaboration with the Nigerian anti-human trafficking authorities and other relevant agencies.
"The Ghana Immigration Service too is in this exercise and all local related agencies are also involved, just as our police counterparts who gave us a very good backing during the September 26 operation," he said.