Takoradi kidnapper had a ‘relationship’ with victims – Police

The Police command in the Western Region has disclosed that the three girls kidnapped in Takoradi had established a relationship with their alleged kidnapper Samuel Wilis.

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday to brief the media on the progress made so far on investigations into the matter, the Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Redeemer Vincent Dedjoe said investigations reveal that the accused and the three victims had communicated several times before their kidnap.

“Before his [the accused] arrest what actually happened was that there was a catalogue of calls between the accused person and victim(s) which were analyzed and the police established connection of the accused person to the three kidnap cases,” DCOP Dedjoe said.

The accused is said to have contacted his victims several times through mobile phone communications as he promised the first and second victims with jobs while the accused promised the third victim with a mobile phone.

Meanwhile, the suspect is reported to be mocking the Ghanaian security agencies in his cells, a police source has told Starr News.

According to the source, Willis boasts among his cellmates that he alone is holding the security forces in Ghana to ransom even after a number of kidnappings.

“The guy is enjoying in prison, he is hailed as king in his cells. He brags that he has kidnapped many people. He has been mocking Ghana in the cells, he says we can’t do anything about it,” the officer told Starrfmonline.com.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection has charged the police to up the ante in unmasking the culprits behind the kidnapping.

Madam Cynthia Morrison said she is in a “panic mood” and the onus lies on the security agencies to restore confidence in the public.

“They [police] should up their game because kidnapping is not what we hear of in Ghana. It’s sad and I sympathize with the family,” she told Morning Starr host Francis Abban on Wednesday.

Security Analyst Adam Bonah on Tuesday faulted the police for responding poorly to the kidnapping situation.

“Right from the beginning, I think there were some lapses here and there. Probably, the police could have responded quite quickly to be able to rescue these girls, but unfortunately they weren’t able to do that in the first 72 hours and in a kidnap case like this, the first, two to three days if you are not able to do any proper rescue then you know that every other day that passes, the situation will be getting out of hand,” stated Bonah on Starr Today.

He added “and so, for me, I think they had the opportunity to respond quickly when the kidnapper or kidnappers were engaging families of the victims with regards to the ransom. They had the opportunity to respond quickly but there was some delay somewhere.”

His comments come after one of the parents of the young girls who have been kidnapped lamented the alleged kidnappers have refused to bring back his daughter even after paying a demanded ransom.