Tarkwa Student May Have Been Kidnapped

There are fears, a first-year student of Tarkwa Senior High School (TARSCO) in the Western Region has been kidnapped by unknown persons.

This incident comes after a series of kidnappings that have hit the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, also in the Western Region, in recent times.

According to reports, Augustina Ndaago, who hails from the Upper West Region, was seen in the school last Wednesday.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that on Wednesday at about 9:00am, the student filled an exeat form and indicated that she was going to visit her parents who resided in the Prestea Huni Valley District of the region.

However, as at yesterday, Augustina Ndaago had neither got to the parents' house nor reported back to the school.

The suspicion that she might have been kidnapped was premised on a claim by Augustina's brother that some unknown persons called and told him they had kidnapped her.

Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Gilbert Kennedy Asmah, told this paper that after hearing the report, he contacted the headmistress of the school, Paulina Manu, who confirmed that the student sought permission to visit her parents on Wednesday.

According to the MCE, on the exeat form, the student wrote the telephone number of her brother, a nursing student in the Upper West Region. This was because the communication network at where her parents resided was very bad.

The MCE noted that at about 6:00pm on Wednesday, the parents, who claimed their daughter had already told them she would be visiting, called the school to find out whether or not their daughter had rescinded her decision.

Mr. Asmah mentioned that the headmistress told the parents that the student had left the school long ago and should have been at the house at that time.

He added that the headmistress quickly went for the exeat form and called the contact number Augustina wrote on it.

The brother who picked the call told the headmistress that he was in Wa, but explained that his sister wrote his contact on the exeat because the communication network at Prestea Huni Valley, where their parents resided, was bad.

According to the brother, he later had a call from some unknown persons who told him that they had kidnapped her sister and demanded GH¢50 before they would release her.

“As the brother was making an arrangement to pay the money, the people called again and told him that they would like to be with his sister and release her on Sunday since the exeat she took from school would expire on that Sunday,” he indicated.

The MCE told DAILY GUIDE that the alleged captors also indicated that they had in their possession at their hideout two other girls from Huni Valley Senior High School.

He pointed out that the police had started their investigations into the case.

“As I speak, they are going to the Huni Valley Senior High School to ascertain whether truly two of their girls are also missing”, the MCE indicated.

—Daily Guide