• A young lady and her two friends are the latest to fake kidnappings
• The police warns the Western region is becoming a hub for kidnappings
The story of the infamous kidnapping of three girls at Takoradi in the Western region was perhaps the very moment this country woke up to the harsh effects and the closeness that kidnappings have on a people.
It was to become a no brush-over when subsequently, other reports of kidnappings were recorded in other parts of the country, including the Western region itself.
With the security services, particularly the Ghana Police Service, highly on alert now, and with the help of social media to support pieces of evidence gathered in the investigations of such cases, many more people have shown interests in who is getting missing, where and how any of those cases are unique, one from another.
But the bare facts too have been that not all the cases of kidnappings in the country have turned out to actually be as they were initially purported to be.
In a recent UTV news report, it was said that the Western regional police had served a warning to persons who had been making false claims of kidnappings in the region.
This was after the police command, led by Chief Superintendent Zoiku, said that there had been 18 fake kidnapping cases recorded in the region as of the time of that report.
This article centers on the Western region and chronicles some of the cases of kidnappings that have been concluded as fake by the police.
Y FM presenter kidnapping, gang rape – 2015
In April 2015, there was news about how a Takoradi-based radio presenter with Y Fm, Adaeze Onyinyechie Ayoka, had been kidnapped and gang-raped.
It turned out that the suspect contacted a syndicate and hired them to stage the act.
This was confirmed by the police and doctors in the Western region after they concluded investigations into the matter.
Her boyfriend, Rahman Nunoo, had also earlier raised doubts over the authenticity of the story, stating that Ada has a history of such kidnapping claims, all of which happened under “doubtful” circumstances, adding that "when you ask her, she becomes furious."
Lovers fake kidnapping – 2020
In October 2020, a Sekondi District Magistrate Court “B” presided over by her worship Rosemary Edith Hayford convicted two persons for faking their kidnapping.
Wilhelmina Aidoo, aged 18, and Ransford Mensah, alias Rapture, aged 22, were convicted on their own plea.
Police prosecutor, Inspector Jennifer Boakye, had told the court that on October 4 that year, her daughter, Wilhelmina Aidoo’s whereabouts could not be traced after which she received a strange call from the supposed kidnapper (Ransford Mensah) on October 6, demanding ransom.
The police after a series of investigations sent two hundred Ghana cedis to Ransford Mensah and pleaded with him to release Wilhelmina.
After the police command directed that the victim be brought to the station for debriefing, she confessed that she, together with her boyfriend, had faked the kidnapping.
Pregnant woman kidnapped
The biggest case of kidnapping in Ghana only next to the Takoradi Girls case happened this year when the case of a woman reported to have been heavily pregnant but had been kidnapped, made headlines.
The case of Josephine Panyin Mensah later turned out that she feigned both her kidnapping and pregnancy.
She was found at Tulano, a suburb of Axim, exactly five days after an official complaint was filed by her husband, Michael Simmons, that she had not returned since going for her routine morning walk.
She is said to have said that the reason she faked the pregnancy in particular was because she didn’t know how she was going to break the news of her fourth-month miscarriage to her husband and as such, had to play the part until after her delivery when she would use the planned kidnapping as a reason to prove that their newborn had been taken away from her by the kidnappers.
The case got a lot of attention across the country with many disappointed in her after it turned out she had feigned this all along.
Daughter fakes kidnap to extort money from adopted father
Three suspects, Joana Krah, 29, the main suspect, conspired with Susana Awortwe, 27, and Francis Eshun, 27, were arrested by the police for faking a kidnapping and demanding an amount of GH¢5000 as ransom from the prime suspect’s adopted father.
A statement from the police dated October 25, 2021, said Joana had conspired with the other two feign her kidnap.
“The Takoradi Divisional Police Command has arrested three suspects, Joana Krah, aged 29, Susana Awortwe, aged 27, and Francis Eshun, aged 27 for allegedly faking a kidnap and demanding a ransom or Five-Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS5,000.00).
“Reports indicate that suspect Joana Krah conspired with the other two suspects Susana Awortwe and Francis Eshun to feign her kidnapping on Friday, October 22, 2021, after which a call was placed to her adopted father to demand the ransom,” the statement read in part.
It further stated that Joana eventually showed up at the Takoradi Central Police Station to confess after she realized things were going sideways, following that her adopted father had reported the issue to the police and an extensive search had been commenced to find her.
Josephine Mensah faked her pregnancy and her kidnapping until she was found out