A photo collage of the arrested kidnappers (L) and rescused victims (R)
The Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Lydia Donkor, has disclosed that the two Ghanaian women: Evelyn Serwaa Konadu and Anastasia Baidoo, who were kidnapped, were lured through romance scams orchestrated by the suspects.
Providing an update on the ongoing investigation into the case at a press briefing on May 6, 2025, DCOP Lydia Donkor stated that the victims, unsuspecting of the suspects’ modus operandi, were lured into Nigeria through Facebook accounts.
The suspects, involved in romance scams operating in both Ghana and Nigeria, deceived the victims into believing they were in romantic relationships.
They pretended to be White men who expressed a desire to marry the victims, further manipulating them into traveling to Nigeria.
Unaware of the scam, the victims accepted the marriage proposals and traveled separately to Nigeria. However, both women ultimately ended up at the same location, where they were held by the kidnappers.
“Suspects Peter Okoye and Christian Emeka both Nigerians indicated to police that they were in Ghana in the year 2019 to work with QNET. They left Ghana for Nigeria in 2020 but Christian Emeka returned to Ghana in June 2024. Peter Okoye, Christian Emeka and Basil Okonkwo are all Nigerians and were into romance scams both in Ghana and in Nigeria. They operate through their Facebook and other social media handles,” DCOP Donkor said.
She added that; “These suspects met the two victims: Anastasia Baidoo and Evelyn Serwaa Konadu, through their Facebook accounts. Suspects posed as White men who wanted to marry the victims. The two unsuspecting victims became convinced, and accepted the marriage proposals. The suspects then lured them to Nigeria and the victims travelled separately but ended up at the same location on the same day on 22nd of April 2025. On reaching the location in Nigeria at Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Peter Okoye and his two accomplices kidnapped them.”
The police further revealed that a total of GH¢18,000 was paid by both victims’ families to the kidnappers, out of the demanded ransom of GH¢500,000, following violent acts inflicted on the victims. The suspects sent videos of the abuse to the families as a means of coercion.
“The three suspects stripped the two victims naked, tied them up, assaulted them with cutlasses, threatened to kill them with a knife, wrapped them in an orange bedsheet with their heads covered in black polythene and threatened to hang them with a nylon rope.
“All these violent acts perpetrated against the victims were recorded on video, disseminated on social media and also a copy was sent to the victims’ families with a demand for ransom of GH¢500,000 from each of the victims’ families. A total of GH¢18,000 was paid to various phone numbers from the families,” she added.
On the part of the victims, the police announced that they are currently in the custody of Nigerian authorities, awaiting transportation back to Ghana to assist with the ongoing investigations.
“As of today, both suspects and victims are with the Nigerian authorities and efforts are being made to transport the victims to Ghana and also extradite the suspects to Ghana to assist investigations. At the moment, information received from our counterparts in Nigeria indicates that both victims are fine and they have received routine medical checks,” she concluded.
The two victims, Evelyn Serwaa Konadu, a 39-year-old well-known hairdresser and event decorator, and Anastasia Baidoo, were successfully rescued through a joint operation by the Ghana Police Service, the National Signals Bureau (NSB), and the Nigeria Police Force.
Their abductions came to light after videos of the incident went viral, prompting the collaborative rescue efforts.
As part of a coordinated investigation, eight suspects linked to the kidnapping were arrested across various locations in Ghana and Nigeria.
Law enforcement agencies in both countries collaborated effectively to locate and apprehend the suspects.
MAG/AE
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