Kumasi Police Grab 2 Kidnappers

Two suspected kidnappers who demanded a ransom of GH¢5,000 from the father of their four-year-old captive have been arrested by the police.

The boy, who was kidnapped at church on Sunday, September 29, 2013, at Odoum in Kumasi, was rescued from a hideout at Anwomaso near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where the suspects had kept him overnight.

The police mentioned their names only as Appiah, 19, and Jackson, 20. Both have been remanded in prison custody after appearing in a court in Kumasi.

Giving details of the incident, a family source told the Daily Graphic that on that day, the child and his parents attended the Living Hope Baptist Church, where they worship.

While the parents were in the main church service, the child was at the Sunday School.

The source said about 11:45 p.m. on that day, a young man wearing a blue shirt, who was later identified as Appiah, asked the father of the child about the whereabouts of his son but the father refused to answer him.

When the father could not find his son after church service, one of the children at the church said he saw the little boy being carried away from the church premises by an unidentified man, a situation that heightened the fears of the father.

Ransom

While at the KNUST Police Station to report the missing of his son, the father had a call on his mobile phone with the caller indicating the boy was with him and that if by 12 noon the next day, he failed to pay GH¢5,000, the child would be used for rituals.

The source said the boy’s father informed the police about the message from the unknown caller and about 9:40 p.m. the same day, he had another telephone call from the same person.

The caller insisted that he (father) should meet him the next day at a place at Kofiase, near Mampong Ashanti, with the money and take his child back.

Once again, the father briefed the police on the development and on Monday, September 30, 2013, he and the police drove to the place but the person was nowhere to be found.

The caller gave the father of the child an MTN number through which payment of the amount was to be effected and said that once it was done, the child would be released.

Tricked

The source said the father of the boy told the caller that there was a network problem at Kofiase so he was going back to Kumasi to transfer the money.

On the way back, he had a call from a church member that he had seen Appiah with the child in Kumasi.

The message was communicated to some church members who helped to arrest the suspect, who was not with the child at the time, but led them to a secluded area at Anwomaso, where he had kept the child.

The suspect was handed over to the police at KNUST and his accomplice was also arrested later.

The case was transferred to the Central Police Station in Kumasi for further action.

Confirming the arrest, the police of the Ashanti regional command said investigations were going on, while the suspects were on remand.

Source: Daily Graphic