Madam Comfort Arhin, mother of Ruth Love Quayson being consoled after the press conference
Police in Takoradi yesterday discovered more human remains in a well at Nkroful New Site, a suburb of Takoradi.
The remains were found in an uncompleted building near the location where the principal suspect in the kidnap of the three missing girls, Samuel Wills Udoetuk, was re-arrested after his escape when he was first arrested.
The fourth set of human parts found in the well adds to the complexity of the missing girls’ mystery and also gives the parents more leverage to question the integrity of the story so far.
They are in denial of the speculation that the first set of remains could be those of their daughters although forensic and DNA tests are yet to be carried out to establish the identities of the discovered human parts. Now that another set of parts have been found, raising the number beyond three, the story is getting murkier by the day.
Parents’ Demand
In related development, parents of the missing girls have called upon the Police Administration to investigate the police officers who allegedly aided Udoetuk Wills to escape from the Takoradi police cells.
“Can the police come clear on why DSP Peter Ofori Donkor, former Takoradi Divisional commander and Mr Ametepe, a Detective with the Criminal Investigating Department (CID), were transferred from Takoradi since they knew more about the issue?” the family members quizzed.
“We are also asking why the police keep distorting information concerning the whereabouts of the girls,” they added.
At a joint news conference in Accra yesterday, the family members claimed that since Samuel Wills was jailed for escaping from lawful custody, nothing had been heard about the allegation by the Nigerian.
It would be recalled that the first Nigerian suspected kidnapper, Samuel Udoetuk Wills, revealed during one of the court proceedings that he was aided by a police officer to escape. They pointed out that they later got to know that two police officers had since been transferred from the Takoradi Division of Police over the issue.
When Cases Were Reported
Speaking on behalf of the families, Michael Grant, an elder brother of Priscilla Kuranchie, one of the victims, refuted claims by the police that the families did not report the cases about the kidnapping of the girls on time which made it difficult for them (police) to track the captors.
“It is completely false for anyone to say that we reported the cases days, weeks or months after they happened,” he stressesd.
He said Priscilla Blessing Bentum, upon realizing she had not returned from church service late on August 17, 2018, the family looked for her and when their efforts proved futile, the matter was reported to the police early morning of August 18, 2018.
He disclosed that on December 4, 2018 when the family of Ruth Love Quayson received a phone call from the kidnapper at about 1:40pm that he had captured their daughter, a report was quickly made at the Takoradi Market Circle Police station.
He added that the family was later referred to the Takoradi Central Police Station where they made an official report around 2:45pm.
He revealed that in the case of Priscilla Mantebea Kuranchie, the family received a call at about 3:30pm on December 21, 2018 and made a report at the Anaji Police Station near Takoradi.
He added that it was even the police who advised the family to send the ransom the kidnapper demanded and asked them to later send the kidnapper’s phone number to the police.
Latest Search
He pointed out that families could not fathom why the police could not conduct a search at the former resident of Samuel Udoetuk Wills immediately he was arrested.
“Can the police tell us they made no search initially when Samuel Wills was arrested,” he said, adding “so who will testify that the said remains were exhumed from the said septic tank since all civilians were driven away from the scene?” he quizzed.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi