Assemblyman Leads Remarkable Rescue of 25 Kidnapping Victims in Effiakuma, Police Identify Suspects
- The assembly member for Effiakuma Zongo led the remarkable rescue of 25 persons believed to be kidnapping victims
- The Ghana Police Service reportedly identified the five suspects during an initial interrogation of the affected people
- Hamza Mohammed Ameen Adam was alerted to the situation after one of the victims escaped to Effiakuma Zongo
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The assembly member for Effiakuma Zongo, Hamza Mohammed Ameen Adam, led the remarkable rescue of 25 persons believed to have been kidnapped in the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality of the Western Region.
The rescue also led to Ghana Police Service personnel identifying five suspects among the 25 as potentially being behind the crime.
Source: UGC
3News reported that the incident came to light after one victim, said to be in his late 20s escaped from captivity on June 1.
The escapee then made his way to the Effiakuma Zongo area, where he approached a trader for help while speaking French.
The assemblyman was then alerted, following which he mobilised a rescue team from some residents in the community.
The victim led them to an eight-bedroom apartment near the Takoradi Technical University main campus.
They found the main entrance and rooms locked, but managed to break in, where they found the victims looking lean and pale.
The victims, six of whom were female, could not confirm how long they had been held captive in the apartment.
Police believe the victims are from neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. The police identified the five suspects during an initial interrogation of the victims.
The suspects have since been placed into isolation and detained as police continue with investigations.
Details of the rescue
Daily Guide reported that at the start of the rescue, they found the entrance locked, but they forced their way inside and discovered the 25 individuals, including six visibly distressed women.
According to Adam the victims were staying in nearly empty rooms and were stripped of basic amenities.
He mentioned that the rooms contained only the victims’ personal belongings, talismans, and other voodoo items, and that none of the victims could confirm how long they had been held.
“Strangely, some of the neighbours claimed to be unaware of anyone occupying the premises,” he added.
He said police interrogated the victims, and with help from the initial escapee, the five suspects believed to have played a role in the alleged kidnapping operation were arrested.
“The five suspects were immediately separated from the rest and later placed in police custody,” he disclosed.
He said the authorities are working to verify the identities of all those rescued.
Two Nigerian nationals arrested over kidnapping
Two Nigerians arrested over their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of an 80-year-old US national have been granted bail.
The suspects are Emmanuel Adedoyin Adebayor, a trader, and Esther Ogbonna, a beautician. GNA reported that one other person, Dennis Poromo, is currently on the run.
Adebayor and Poromo have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime, kidnapping and stealing before a high court. Ogbonna was charged as an accomplice.
Adebayor and Ogbonna have pleaded not guilty and were granted GH¢500,000, with the search for the third suspect still underway.
Source: Getty Images
The Ghana Police Service's attention was drawn to the kidnapping on December 6, 2024, when the police received a complaint from the FBI agents at the American Embassy in Accra about the kidnapping of Diana Christine Nelson.
According to the prosecution, Adebayor and Poromo also succeeded in withdrawing $15,821.70 from the victim’s bank and also demanded a ransom of $150,000.
Church elder kidnapped and released
YEN.com.gh also reported that Elder Emmanuel Cudjoe, the National Deacon of the Church of Pentecost in South Africa, who was kidnapped in October, was released and returned home alive.
This incident occurred after a group of armed robbers disrupted a church service at the Johannesburg branch of the church, robbing congregants at gunpoint and kidnapping the deacon.
The news of Elder Cudjoe's release from custody was announced through a WhatsApp conversation, with the National Head Pastor expressing gratitude for his miraculous return and for his life.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
