The suspects
The Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has uncovered a disturbing connection between telecom employees and a transnational criminal gang that orchestrated the kidnapping of two Ghanaian women in Nigeria.
At a press briefing held yesterday, CID Director-General, DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, revealed that the police, in collaboration with the National Signals Bureau (NSB) and the Nigeria Police Force, successfully rescued the two victims—Anastasia Baidoo Arthur and Evelyn Konadu—who were lured to Nigeria by romance scammers and later kidnapped in a brutal extortion plot.
The chilling footage of the victims, bound, naked, and pleading for their lives, went viral on social media, sparking nationwide outrage.
According to DCOP Donkor, the two women had been deceived by Nigerian suspects posing as wealthy white men on social media. After months of online manipulation, the victims agreed to travel to Nigeria under the false pretense of marriage.
“The suspects met the two victims through their Facebook accounts. They posed as white men who wanted to marry them,” she said and added, “The two women travelled separately but arrived at the same location on April 22, 2025, where they were abducted upon arrival.”
The main suspects—Peter Okoye, 31; Paulinus Chidokwe, 35; Chinoso Okafor, 35; and Christian Emeka—were arrested in coordinated raids in Port Harcourt and Onitsha, Nigeria.
DCOP Donkor disclosed that some of the suspects had previously operated in Ghana. “Peter Okoye and Christian Emeka were in Ghana in 2019 working with QNET. Though they left in 2020, Emeka returned to Ghana in June 2024,” she revealed. Investigations found that Okoye, Emeka, and another accomplice, Basil Okonkwo, ran online romance scams in both Ghana and Nigeria.
Once in Nigeria, the victims were kidnapped, tied up, stripped, and assaulted with cutlasses. The suspects threatened to hang them with nylon rope and recorded the abuse, which was then shared with the victims’ families and circulated on social media. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of GH¢500,000 from each family.
So far, GH¢18,000 had been paid to various mobile money accounts before the rescue operation was executed on May 1, 2025.
Crucially, CID investigations have also linked the criminal activity to a telecom company employee in Ghana. According to DCOP Donkor, the staff member used stolen Ghana Card details to fraudulently register multiple SIM cards, which were sold to the syndicate for $150 each. These SIMs were used to coordinate the kidnappings and receive ransom payments via mobile money.
“The fraudulently registered SIMs were traced to both incidents, prompting the creation of a CID special task force made up of the Cybercrime Unit, Missing Persons Unit, Robbery Unit, and the Police Intelligence Department, with support from the National Signals Bureau,” she said.
One of the suspects, Alfred Amankwah, 21, a Ghanaian, claimed his Ghana Card had been used without his knowledge in the fraudulent SIM registrations. Alongside him, three Nigerian nationals—Christian Emeka, 27; Bartholomew Okonkwo, 29; and Titus Okafor, 25—were arrested in Ghana.
Another key suspect, Mama Hassan, 33, was picked up in Accra on May 2, 2025. Funds traced from the ransom payments were converted into Nigerian Naira and deposited into a bank account in the name of Cecilia Williams.
DCOP Donkor emphasised the urgent need for public vigilance, saying, “We want Ghanaians to be cautious about online romance scams. These criminals prey on emotions, ignorance, and misplaced trust.”
She confirmed that efforts are underway to extradite the suspects to Ghana and return the victims safely home. “As of today, both the suspects and the victims are in custody of Nigerian authorities, and we are working to repatriate them,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the CID is also investigating a separate kidnapping incident involving the abduction of three Chinese crew members from a Ghanaian vessel at Tema Port. The suspects allegedly transported the victims to Nigeria, where they were later abandoned. Security agencies in Ghana and Nigeria are jointly pursuing leads.
The CID has assured the public of its continued commitment to dismantling cross-border criminal networks and bringing all perpetrators to justice.
By Prince Fiifi Yorke