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27.08.2018 Crime & Punishment

Family Accuses Kasoa Police Of Slow Tactics Following Kidnapping

By Ghanaian Chronicle
Family Accuses Kasoa Police Of Slow Tactics Following Kidnapping
27.08.2018 LISTEN

The life of a 13-year-old Junior High School student is in danger, after escaping from the clutches of alleged kidnappers at Kasoa, and the failure of the police to handle the situation.

The Form One pupil (name withheld) of the St. Mary's Anglican School at Akweley, a suburb of Kasoa, is currently homeless and cannot attend school due to the fact that her kidnappers are at her heels, with the intention of eliminating her.

The victim narrowly escaped from the kidnappers, who see her as a threat to their trade and security, since the little girl has seen their faces and could identify them to the police.

In spite of the seriousness of the issue, and the fact that the life of a possible future leader is at stake, the Kasoa District Police Command is alleged to have kept a blind eye on the plight of the poor girl, with the excuse that such issues are widely reported.

Narrating her ordeal to The Chronicle, the victim indicated that on June 28, 2018, she got to the Adom Estates taxi rank (where she resides) around 6:30am to take a taxicab to school.

However, realising that she was getting late, and since the taxi was taking so long to be full, she walked a few metres further, where she met a taxi cab with two ladies seated in it. She added that the ladies asked her to join the cab, after the driver of the vehicle with registration number GW 1891-14 had indicated that he knew her, to which she duly obliged.

According to her, she could neither see nor hear anything moments after boarding the car until she woke up to the realisation that she had been brought to a large single room which contained three pregnant womenand a few adults.

She added that the two ladies told her that they had “brought her to the place to kill her”, and that no one or nothing could save her.

She, however, realised that the accent of the two ladies sounded Nigerian, since they were speaking the Nigerian pidgin language. According to her, she asked to urinate, and the ladies reluctantly obliged, though one of them insisted she urinate in the room.

According to her, the walls fencing the place were very high, but she managed to identify a portion that was broken and mended with arranged blocks. She climbed that portion of the wall and ran into the nearby bush.

She stated further that she manoeuvred her way through the bush for about four hours before meeting an aged woman who scolded her for being at a place where people are murdered, but later helped her. The woman told her that the place was called Nyanyano, as she narrated her account to the woman. The woman then took a station-loaded taxicab for her, after she had narrated her ordeal.

Back Home
According to residents of Adom Estates where she resides, the victim got home so much traumatised and bruised that the whole community wailed about her ordeal.

People present who spoke to this paper, upon a visit to the area (including petty traders and other residents), confirmed the incident and described how the victim looked brutalised with a swollen face and bleeding mouth.

According to them, the victim could hardly walk and looked visibly traumatised.

According to Joana Hazel, grandmother of the victim, she administered first aid to her with drugs bought from a nearby drug store, and later sent the victim to the police station for an official compliant the next day.

The step-father of the victim, Earnest Mensah, and a family friend, Aunty Agnes, confirmed the incident and added their voices to the call for the protection of the victim.

At the Kasoa District Police Station
Joana Hazel indicated that after lodging the complaint, a statement of the victim was taken and a medical form given for the victim to attend hospital.

According to her, the police officers later scolded the victim and ridiculed the family, saying they were not going to do anything about the matter, because such cases are usually reported to their outfits with no meaningful results, and they see the case as one of those.

According to the victim's grandmother, the police also attributed the incident to a spiritual and psychological attack, and advised them to send the child for spiritual deliverance.

She added that the detective responsible for the case told them that “the girl was suffering from mental disorder,” and that “the parents should look for help for her.”

This, according to them, discouraged them from making follow-ups to the station.

She said, not even the visit of their Pastor, who is also the General Overseer of the Eternal Glory Ministries (EGM), Rev. Richard Boateng, to the police station could make the police act on the matter.

Life of victim further threatened
According to the victim and the grandmother, their lives (especially that of the victim) have been put in serious danger, since the attackers are constantly trailing them to eliminate them.

The victim told this paper that people have been constantly attempting to break into their room at midnight, with one of the incidents prompting the landlady to raise the alarm.

She also revealed that close to a month after her narrow escape, the same taxi cab, with the same driver who earlier kidnapped her, trailed her to her school where he attempted to kidnap her and a classmate of hers the second time.

She added that after school that fateful day, the taxi driver held her and started dragging her into the taxi, when her friend and mate helped her fight the man, whilst others shouted for help and hooted at him.

Sensing danger, the driver took away the school bags of the victim and the friend, which contained their school materials.

According to the victim's parents, not even the second incident could prompt the police to act. They contend that they were left to their fate with no security.

The mother of the victim's friend, EkuaKyerewaa, confirmed the incident and expressed worry. She indicated that she is concerned also about the terminal report of her child, Dorothy Arkoh, which was in the bag when it was taken away.

Follow-ups by Chronicle
This reporter, in the company of a colleague journalist, followed up to the scene where the victim appeared after escaping from her kidnappers.

The team also visited Adom Estates where the victim resides, and confirmed the account of the incident and happenings thereafter, as given by the victim. The residents confirmed every detail and called for extra protection for the child.

Response of Kasoa District Police Command
ASP Charles Obiri-Yeboah, Kasoa District Police Crime Officer, refuted the claim by the victim and the family that his outfit refused to act on the matter when The Chronicle contacted him.

He confirmed having told family of the victim that a lot of such cases are reported, but end up in nothing, but denied saying the police would not act on the matter.

He explained that there are times recalcitrant kids fabricate all sorts of stories just to outwit their parents, so he made those comments to test the psyche of the victim and ascertain the truthfulness of the allegation.

He contended that the police, especially himself, were cordial and friendly, and rather blamed the victim and her family for lack of cooperation in their investigations into the case.

He wondered why the complainants failed to appear again at the police station when they were told to do so.

LawrentiaAtariyine, the CID who handled the case, also said they were fair and friendly to the complainants, and wondered why they did not return to the station as they were told to do.

Both confirmed that the victim had a swollen and bruised face, and indicated that the condition of the child was such that they had to issue her with a medical form for medical attention.

Meanwhile,drivers at the victim's place of residence, Adom Estates, upon an interaction with the investigation team, have pledged to conduct a manhunt for the vehicle and driver being used to perpetuate crime in the vicinity.

They complained of the uncontrolled criminal activities of some foreigners in the vicinity, and wondered why the police are not acting, though they are aware of the sleeping places and hideouts of these criminals.

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