Pupils of CareGuide Mtonessori School at Gbawe, in Accra, have been sensitised on kidnapping and its related issues to guide them in taking precautions to avoid being victims.
Madam Betty Akumatey, the Director of the School, said kidnapping had been a global phenomenon, which had rocked the nation in recent times.
“Cultural perspective no longer holds and we have become too hospitable to strangers and our children are also very welcoming of strangers and that puts them at risk,” she said.
“We can’t take these things for granted anymore because there are criminals creeping in from various societies and countries, especially with what is happening in Nigeria, having a clang on us in Ghana.”
The sensitization programme was organised in collaboration with the Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), a non-governmental organisation, which has launched a campaign to fight kidnapping in the country.
The HRRG also campaigns against all forms of violence against women and children including Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Child Trafficking, and Child Marriage.
Madam Akumatey, who is also a Sociologist, Anthropologist and Gender Expert, advised Ghanaians to be vigilant, be careful of who they trusted, and excise caution in extending the proverbial ‘Ghanaian hospitality’ to strangers.
While acknowledging the Human Rights Reporters for organising the programme for the School, she appealed to other organisations, government agencies and individuals in similar advocacy to collaborate to end the activities of kidnappers in the country.
“This should go on in all social circles, churches and schools, homes, communities, wherever, and above all in the media, especially now that a lot of children are using social media,” she said.
