The police have put an end to the unsavory activities of a child trafficker. Indeed, Bari Yacoub of a Togolese nationality was arrested on Thursday 12 June 2016 in Noé by the Border Police. The trafficker was travelling with six (06) children (03 girls and 03 boys) whose age varies from 4 to 16 years from Boaré in the sub-prefecture of Dapaong in Togo. After his arrest, Bari Yacoub was detained at the Aboisso court where he was sentenced to twelve (12) months' imprisonment and fined 100,000 francs (100,000 CFA francs).
The children were placed at the Padre Pio home center of Yaou in Bonoua before returning to their country of origin. Mrs. Euphrasie Yao Kouassi, Minister for the Promotion of the Family, Women and Child Protection, Vice-President of the Inter-ministerial Committee for Fight against Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labor, came along with a strong delegation composed of her close collaborators and members of the National Oversight Committee of Actions for Fight against Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labor (CNS), on Monday 04 July 2016 to the Padre Pio home center of Bonoua.
Upon her arrival at the Padre Pio Center, the Minister for the Promotion of the Family first had a working session with the representative of the African Union, Mrs. Joséphine Charlotte Maynuma Kala, the representative of the Togolese Consulate in Côte d Ivoire, Oulai Laurent and the staff of the center. Then Mrs. Euphrasie Yao Kouassi raised a sail on the circumstances that led to the arrest of the child trafficker to Noé.
"It emerged that Mr. Yacoub went to the village of Boaré to look after his son. In this locality, some members of the community asked him to come back with children for domestic taks, notably for newborn surveillance, animal husbandry and many other areas of activity, "said the Minister.
Mrs. Euphrasie KouassI Yao finally recalled the actions taken by the Government to curb the phenomenon of child trafficking in Côte d'Ivoire. These include the tracing of traffickers, the immediate care of children, their transfer to a home center followed by the total care of the children, and the identification of the biological parents.
On this occasion, Mrs. Joséphine Charlotte Maynuma Kala, Special Representative of the President of the African Union Commission (AU), welcomed the "rapid reaction" of the Ivorian authorities, not without paying tribute to the First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, for her "special" action for the children of Côte d'Ivoire and Africa.
Oulai Laurent, Representative of the Consul of Togo in Côte d'Ivoire, for his part, thanked the Ivorian authorities for their action to eradicate this phenomenon.
It should be noted that 22 child traffickers were arrested and 48 children rescued from 1 to 06 June 2015 in San Pedro as part of the fight against child labor.