The Assembly Member for the Mpohor Electoral Area, Kofi Bentil, has disclosed that the supposed kidnapping case alleged to have happened at Mpohor in the Western Region is likely to be a hoax.
According to the Assembly member,;his checks at the Mpohor Police Station has revealed that no such report has been made to the Police and he,;as an Assembly Member, is not aware of such occurrence.
He indicated that the lover of the victim has also confirmed that his girlfriend, Stephanie, who was allegedly kidnapped, is back home. He added that the earlier assertion that the case has been reported to the police is false.
After weeks of controversies and a rising public concern relating to reports of fake kidnap cases in the Western Region, there has been yet another reported case of an alleged kidnap in Mpohor which comes on the back of media reports that one Stephanie Kumiwaa had been kidnap prior to a visit to her boyfriend.
Police arrest journalist and victim’s boyfriend
Meanwhile, two persons including the victim’s boyfriends and a media practitioner are assisting Police with investigations into what may likely turn out to be another fake kidnapping saga at Mpohor in the Western Region.
The culprits are Stephen Kumi, 33-year-old supposed boyfriend of a certain Stephanie Kumiwaa, the lady who was said to have been kidnapped and Paa Kwesi Sampson of a radio station in the Western Region.
The Police has indicated that the boyfriend of the supposed victim is still being held in police custody whilst the journalist has been released on bail.
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According to a statement issued by the Police and signed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Olivia Ewerabena Adiku, Head of Public Affairs at the Western Regional Police Command, on October 17, 2021, a media outlet carried a publication written by journalist, Paa Kwesi Sampson on an alleged kidnap.
The Takoradi Divisional Police Command stated that it immediately after seeing the reports initiated investigation into the case involving one Stephanie Kumiwaa, a 26-year old at Mpohor.
The police noted that it liaised with the Mpohor District Police Command and checks revealed that no such case was reported and police without wasting time arrested the two suspects who reported the story.
The Police stated that during police interrogation, Stephen told police that he met Stephanie on Facebook and started dating. He said on October 17, 2021, Stephaniecalled to inform him that she was visiting him but did not show up.
Two days after, on October 19, 2021, Stephen claimed he received a phone call from Sandra, a friend of Stephanie, that someone called with Stephanie’s phone number that she has been kidnapped and the suspected kidnappers were demanding a ransom of GHC2,000.
However, police escorted Stephen Kumi to Mpohor and all efforts to locate the residence and family members of Stephanie and Sandra for confirmation of the alleged incident proved futile.
Stephen Kumi was immediately arrested and detained while Paa Kwesi was granted police enquiry bail.
The Police has therefore cautioned the media in the area to be circumspect with their reportage and always make sure they crosscheck information from the Western Regional Police Command before publication.
