National Security rescues kidnapped Israeli

The National Security apparatus has rescued the Israeli national who was taken hostage in the country, after 11 days of intensive search.

Dror Weinstein, the 62-year-old Israeli consultant and businessman was lured into the country on October 15, 2008 by a gang of Nigerian fraudsters and kidnapped four days later.

The kidnappers reportedly contacted the relatives of the businessman in Israel for an initial ransom of $500,000 but later reduced it to $300,000. Negotiations were made through the Israeli's business partner, who first reported the kidnapping.

The National Security Coordinator, Dr Sam Amoo Ghartey said his outfit was informed about the abduction by the representative of the Israeli government in Nigeria who has oversight responsibility over Ghana.

He said on October 20, 2008, a day after the kidnapping when the Ghanaian security apparatus was hinted, a special taskforce comprising the various security agencies was set up to conduct thorough investigations into the matter.

Dr. Amoo Ghartey indicated that the National Security operatives subsequently located the kidnappers.

He said on October 29, 2008 the team was able to rescue Dror at about 11.00 pm from his captors in Accra and arrested two suspects while others are at large.

Dr Ghartey said the arrested suspects, Sampson Ojanomare and Clifford Ogheneovo Osiebe, both Nigerians have been remanded in custody.

Dror, narrating his experience to the security officers, said Ojanomare and others kidnapped him on October 19, and had before then lodged at three different hotels.

He said on his arrival in Ghana on October 15, after his captors had lured him to come for a business deal, he first checked into the Penta Hotel at East Legon in Accra and after spending a night there he moved to another hotel, West Airport Hotel, where he spent a night and then finally checked into PROTEA Hotel, also in East Legon where he spent two nights.

The Israeli Ambassador who is resident in Abuja, Nigeria has expressed his gratitude to the Ghanaian security services for the prompt and professional manner in which they handled the situation.

It would be recalled that following the abduction, the highly rated Israeli intelligence organization, Mossad, announced its intention to dispatch a crack team to come and assist their Ghanaian counterparts in getting the kidnapped Israeli freed.

The story on the kidnap was carried by major international media organizations like Aljazeera and The Jerusalem Post.