Driver Arrested in Connection With Kidnapping of 2 Canadian Women

By Kingsley E. Hope

Kumasi — An Uber driver has been arrested by the police, in connection with the alleged kidnapping of two female Canadians, at Ahodwo, Kumasi Royal Gulf Club, on Tuesday June 4, 2019.

The man, whose name is being withheld, is believed to be the driver, who transported the Canadians from their residence.

The Canadians, Bailen Chitty, 19, and Lauren Patricia Catherine, 20, are in Ghana for an exchange programme with the Entrepreneurship Department of the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU).

The Ghanaian Times gathered that the two were bundled into a vehicle at about 8:20pm just when they had stepped out of their apartment at Silver Spring in Kumasi.

Chitty and Catherine are said to be with a group of four, three women and a man when the incident occurred, and efforts to get in touch with the Entrepreneurial Department of the KsTU have also not been fruitful.

A statement signed by the Director General of the Police Public Affairs Unit, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) David Eklu, and issued to the Ghanaian Times, indicated that the police was working with other security agencies to rescue the victims.

It said, "The Ashanti Regional Police Command is investigating a complaint of kidnapping at Ahodwo, Kumasi Royal Gulf Club at 8:25p.m on June 4, 2019 where two of Canadian nationality were kidnapped".

The statement said investigations started immediately upon receipt of complaint and the security agencies are working closely together to get them rescued and perpetrators arrested.

ACP Eklu urged the public to support the police by volunteering information to complement the effort of the security agencies.

It indicated that the two Canadians were volunteers working with the Youth Challenge International, a non-governmental organisation, based in Ghana.

The statement said "anyone with information on the whereabouts of the suspects and the victims can contact police on 18555 or 191".

In a related development, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Godwin Ahianyo, Head of Police Public Affairs Unit of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, in a chat with the Ghanaian Times, appealed to the media to be circumspect with reportage and discussions on the issue as it was very sensitive.

This brings to two the number of foreign nationals allegedly kidnapped in Kumasi this year, with the first being an Indian, Umpakan Chodri, who was later rescued at Parkoso in the Asokore-Mampong municipality by the police.

The kidnappers in this case demanded a 500,000 US dollars ransom after sending photographs of the victim to his family with a gun pointed into his head.

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