Conspiracy and deception: Unravelling the fake kidnappings in Ghana

In recent months, Ghana has witnessed a disturbing rise in kidnapping cases.

However, upon closer inspection, many of these incidents turn out to be orchestrated scams rather than genuine abductions.

This troubling trend involves individuals—often students, spouses, or partners—conspiring with friends or accomplices to stage their own kidnappings, all to extort money from their loved ones.

These fake kidnappings typically follow a similar pattern.

Desperate for quick cash, students team up with classmates to dupe their parents into paying ransom.

In other cases, romantic partners concoct elaborate schemes to exploit their significant others financially.

There have even been reports of wives faking their own abductions in a bid to escape their marriages and profit from their husbands’ distress.

The surge in such deceptive practices not only undermines public trust but also places an unnecessary burden on law enforcement agencies, diverting resources from genuine cases.

In this article, The Ghana Report examines some of the fake kidnapping cases that made headlines.

PRESEC Boys

In April this year, the police administration arrested six individuals, including four Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (PRESEC) students, for orchestrating a fake kidnapping scheme.

The two adults in the group were identified as Isaac Kissi Adjei, also known as Kofi Black, and Courage Teiko, known as Timmy.

Preliminary investigations suggested that the motive behind the staged kidnapping was a desperate attempt by one of the juveniles to extort money from their parents to fund a trip abroad.

The group demanded a ransom of GH₵340,000 from the parents of the alleged victim.

They managed to extract GH₵20,000 from the ransom demand before being apprehended by law enforcement.

The alleged victim of the fake kidnapping went missing on March 28, 2024, while on his way home from campus to Obuasi for vacation.

As part of the plot, they threatened to sell the boy’s body parts should the family refuse to send the money.

The family negotiated the ransom down to GH₵20,000, which they sent via mobile money, but the kidnappers refused to release the boy until they were paid the full amount.

Takoradi kidnapping

In October 2021, one of the three suspects arrested for faking a kidnapping in the Western Regional capital, Takoradi, was sentenced to six years in prison.

In October 2021, 29-year-old Joana Krah pleaded guilty to two counts: publication of false news and deceiving a public officer.

The convict was arrested on October 25, 2021, along with Susana Awortwe, 27, and Francis Eshun, 27.

According to the police report, the suspect, Joana Krah, conspired with the two others to orchestrate her kidnapping on Friday, October 22, 2021.

Thereafter, Ms Krah’s adopted father was called to demand a ransom of GH₵5,000.

However, the suspect showed up on Saturday to declare that she was only being playful with the kidnapping incident.

“When Joana became aware that her adopted father had reported to the police and an extensive search had commenced to find her, she showed up at the Takoradi central police station on Saturday, October 23, to confess to only joking with her father that she was kidnapped,” the police said.

Further investigations led to the arrest of Susana Awortwe and Francis Eshun, who, together with Ms Krah.

19-year-old girl arrested for fake kidnapping

The Assin Fosu police arrested a 19-year-old apprentice for allegedly masterminding a fake kidnapping with her boyfriend to extort money from her parents.

Felicia Appoh, the mother of the suspect, narrating the incident, said her daughter, Comfort Aidoo, called one of their neighbours at Breman Adamanu in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District, claiming she had been kidnapped.

Sounding distressed, Comfort alleged that the kidnappers had held her captive in an uncompleted building in a neighbouring town.

She then handed the phone to the alleged kidnapper, who demanded a GH₵2,000 ransom from the parents.

He threatened that if they failed to pay the ransom, he would behead Comfort, as he already had a machete to her neck.

According to Felicia Appoh, she and her frightened husband frantically searched for the said amount to save their daughter from getting killed.

She said about 15 minutes after they paid the money into a mobile money account, as suggested by the alleged kidnapper, their daughter called them to tell them she had been released.

She alleged that she had been dropped off near a forest at Assin Juaso.

However, when the family went to the location to pick her up, they noticed some inconsistencies in her story.

The mother said the suspect initially told them she was dragged into a taxi blindfolded and sent to an uncompleted building.

But she later changed her story. She told them that her ex-boyfriend had abducted her and demanded all the money he spent on her while they were together.

Fake pregnant woman kidnapping incident

Josephine Panyin Mensah, a 29-year-old woman, faked her pregnancy and kidnapping.

In her case, she conspired with her mother to fake her pregnancy since she was afraid of losing her husband after she had a miscarriage while four months pregnant.

According to her, she also faked her kidnapping to cover up the alleged loss of the baby.