The Ghana Police Service has revealed that the abduction of two ladies in Nigeria was as a result of a romance scam.
The Police in a joint operation with the National Signals Bureau (NSB) and the Nigeria Police Force rescued two female victims from kidnappers in Nigeria on May 1,2025.
Eight suspects have so far been arrested in connection with the kidnapping incident from their hideouts in Ghana and Nigeria.
The Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor on Tuesday May 6, 2025 gave full information on the said incident involving two Ghanaian Women.
Names of the suspects arrested in Onitsha in Nigeria are Peter Okoye, 31, Paulinus Chidokwe, 35, and Chinoso Okafor, 35.
DCOP Lydia Donkor disclosed that the suspects operate through their Facebook pages and other social networking platforms posing as white men while proposing marriage to the two female victims.
The two victims, Anastasia Baidoo Arthur and Evelyn Konadu, met the suspects through their Facebook handles. The suspects convinced the victims to accept their marriage proposal.
“The suspects then lured them to Nigeria and the victims.
“They traveled separately but ended up at the same location on the same day on April 22, 2025,” DCOP Donkor noted
Anastasia Baidoo Arthur and Evelyn Konadu were kidnapped on their arrival.
There were videos of the two being assaulted physically by the abductors. They were stripped naked, tied, and seen beaten with cutlasses.
They additionally threatened to kill them with their heads concealed in black plastic and recorded the acts on camera.
The families of the victims were contacted by the perpetrators where they demanded Ghc500,000 as ransom from each family.
By the time of their arrest, Ghc18,000 had been paid into various mobile money accounts.
The Police has therefore cautioned Ghanaians about online romance scams and urged them to report such incidents to the law enforcement agency.
The police said that both the victims and the suspect are with the Nigerian authorities and are expected to arrive in Ghana in the coming days to assist in investigations.
