Challenging Heights partners Ghana Police to rescue 42 girls from human trafficking
Challenging Heights, in collaboration with the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), has supported the rescue of 42 victims of human trafficking, mostly Nigerians, in the Western North Region.
Out of the 42 victims rescued, 36 have been admitted to the Challenging Heights Human Trafficking Victims Rehabilitation Centre, where they are currently receiving care and support.
Initial interviews and assessments reveal the children are between the ages of 13 and 17, as many had been instructed to falsify their ages to evade detection by law enforcement.
The victims, predominantly from low-income households in Enugu, Imo, and Akwa Ibom States in Nigeria, were lured into Ghana under false promises of employment opportunities.
Testimonies
Testimonies from the victims reveal severe and systematic abuse.
Each victim was assigned a daily financial target ranging between GH¢ 1,000 and GH¢1,500.
Many were coerced into having sexual encounters with between 10 and 20 men per day.
Failure to meet imposed targets resulted in physical punishment, including caning, as well as food deprivation.
The Executive Director of Challenging Heights, James Kofi Annan, said access to health care was virtually non-existent, even in cases of illness.
“Disturbingly, one of the rescued victims, believed to be approximately 14 years old, is pregnant but had been forced to continue working under these conditions,” he said.
“This incident further underscores the growing trend of cross-border trafficking of young girls from Nigeria into Ghana for sexual exploitation,” he said, adding that Challenging Heights remained deeply concerned about the scale, organisation and brutality of these operations.
In 2025 alone, Mr Annan said Challenging Heights, working with its partners, rescued 201 victims of human trafficking. He indicated that this current operation brought the total number of persons rescued by the organisation over the past 20 years to 2,930.
Vulnerable women
He said beyond rescue, the organisation continued to provide long-term rehabilitation and reintegration support, as well as livelihood programmes that had benefited thousands of vulnerable women and youth across the country.
This rescue, he said, once again highlights the urgent need for increased investment in anti-trafficking efforts, adding that government agencies mandated to combat human trafficking remained severely under-resourced.
“Challenging Heights reiterates its call for the Government of Ghana to allocate a minimum of GH¢20 million to adequately equip these agencies to effectively prevent, investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases.
The organisation extended its profound appreciation to the GPS, particularly the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, for their courage and commitment under extremely challenging conditions.
It singled out D/C/Inspr. Emmanuel Gyamfi Yeboah I/c DPW/C/Inspr. Ursula Osei, Inspr. Lord Kwame Blankson, D/Sgt. Isaac Atter, DPW/Cpl Mandy Achiaa, and D/L/Clp Robert Oku, all of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, CID Headquarters, for their commitment over the years to the fight against human trafficking in Ghana.
