The Chinderi District Police Command in the Oti Region has arrested five suspects for allegedly kidnapping two minors, aged 12 and 16, respectively.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), John Nchor, Public Relations Officer (PRO), Oti Region, in a statement said on July 31, 2021, the Chinderi District Command received a distress call from one Ali Mohammed that his sons sent his cattle for grazing and had not returned.

The statement said Mohammed later informed Police that, the eldest of the two, escaped at Malla, a village near Borea while being taken to an unknown destination.

It said preliminary investigations led to the arrest of three suspects - Sule Kassim, 28, Sameko Kaduna, 28, and Kassim Koron,18 at Chinderi on August 1, 2021.

According to the statement the alleged kidnappers who were holding the 12-year-old boy captive, made a contact demanding a ransom of GH¢ 200,000.00 before they would free him.

It said on August 2, this year “three patrol teams drawn from Oti Regional Police Operational Unit and detectives led by Supt. E. Osei-Agbogah, the Counter-Terrorism Unit from the Police Headquarters, Accra, and a patrol team from Kete Krachi Divisional Police were dispatched to Chinderi to assist the District Police Command to rescue the victim and apprehend the captors”.

The statement said on August 3, the three suspects arrested were arraigned before Kete Krachi Magistrate Court, presided over by Mr Ben Attobrah, and were remanded into police custody to reappear on August 17.

It said the Police team co-opted the support of the Youth of Monkra and the Hunters Club for credible information and through Police-Public Corporation, the second victim was rescued at Techiakura, a village near Ehiamankyene in the Krachi West District on August 9, at about 0124 hours.

The statement said two suspects- Gariba Mbonge, 20, and Sanda Abubakar, 27, all Fulanis were arrested, however, three suspects bolted upon realizing that the Mbonge and Abubakar were apprehended.

It said a sharp cutlass, four assorted mobile phones with sim cards used to demand the ransom were retrieved from the suspects.

According to the statement the two were also arraigned before the same Court and remanded into police custody to reappear on August 17, while a manhunt is ongoing for the other three.