Year in Review: Fake kidnappings that rocked 2021

Takoradi became quite popular in the year for fake kidnappings

A woman faked both pregnancy and kidnapping

The police has warned against such fake actions

It may seem as though one of the weirdest trends in the year 2021; Fake kidnappings!

The same subject matter of kidnappings that hit a neighbouring country such as Nigeria so much

Read full articleso that it has become a national security concern, with the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) taking particularly keen interest.

And with the name of one city leading this negative tag, the year has experienced just about the highest reported cases of fake kidnappings.

This is a trend that the Western regional police had cause to serve a warning on, following too many reports of such false claims of kidnappings in the region.

Chief Superintendent Zoiku, who leads the regional command, had made this known after there had been some 18 fake kidnapping cases recorded in the region at one point in time in the year.

The list is alarming and GhanaWeb, in this listicle, brings you a number of the ones that made their way into the public limelight, starting with the most recent one which has landed one of the frontline faces of journalism in the Western region n trouble.

Fake Mpohor kidnapping:

Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the host of the morning show on Connect FM in the Western region, was conducting his daily business one morning in November 2021 when a listener called into his program to make a report about a kidnapping that would later be established to have been a false one.

Stephen Kumi, the alleged boyfriend of Stephanie Kumiwaa, is reported to have alleged that his 26-year-old girlfriend had been kidnapped, with the kidnappers requesting him to pay a ransom of GH¢2,000.00 to facilitate her release.

But a statement from the police said checks at the Mpohor Police District Command indicated that no such case had been reported there.

The story was thus concluded to be a case of a fake kidnapping.

Paa Kwesi Simpson was eventually arrested alongside Stephen Kumi but the former was granted bail by a High Court in Sekondi to the tune of GH¢50,000.

The bail conditions came with two sureties; one being a resident of Sekondi-Takoradi, after Simpson earlier been remanded into custody for two weeks together with Stephen Kumi.

The two pleaded not guilty to charges of publication of false news with the intent of causing fear and alarm to the public contrary to the Public Order Act, and false publication of news through an electronic device.

Takoradi pregnant woman kidnapping

The biggest case of kidnapping in Ghana only next to the Takoradi Girls case happened this year when the case of a woman reported to have been heavily pregnant but had been kidnapped, made headlines.

The case of Josephine Panyin Mensah later turned out that she feigned both her kidnapping and pregnancy.

She was found at Tulano, a suburb of Axim, exactly five days after an official complaint was filed by her husband, Michael Simmons, that she had not returned since going for her routine morning walk.

She is said to have said that the reason she faked the pregnancy in particular was because she didn’t know how she was going to break the news of her fourth-month miscarriage to her husband. Resultantly, she played the part until after her delivery when she would use the planned kidnapping as a reason to prove that their newborn had been taken away from her by the kidnappers.

The case got a lot of attention across the country with many disappointed in her after it turned out she had feigned this all along.

Daughter fakes kidnap to extort money from adopted father

Three suspects, Joana Krah, 29, the main suspect, conspired with Susana Awortwe, 27, and Francis Eshun, 27, were arrested by the police for faking a kidnapping and demanding an amount of GH¢5000 as ransom from the prime suspect’s adopted father.

A statement from the police dated October 25, 2021, said Joana had conspired with the other two feign her kidnap.

“The Takoradi Divisional Police Command has arrested three suspects, Joana Krah, aged 29, Susana Awortwe, aged 27, and Francis Eshun, aged 27 for allegedly faking a kidnap and demanding a ransom or Five-Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS5,000.00).

“Reports indicate that suspect Joana Krah conspired with the other two suspects Susana Awortwe and Francis Eshun to feign her kidnapping on Friday, October 22, 2021, after which a call was placed to her adopted father to demand the ransom,” the statement read in part.

It further stated that Joana eventually showed up at the Takoradi Central Police Station to confess after she realized things were going sideways. Following that, her adopted father had reported the issue to the police and an extensive search had been commenced to find her