Child Rights International (CRI), a non-governmental organization committed to the promotion and protection of children has said it will take legal action if efforts to get details on the whereabouts of the three kidnapped girls in Takoradi fail.
Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah on Eyewitness News said a visit to the families over the weekend revealed a rather poor communication structure between the families and the police on the status of the three girls.
According to him, every information received on the whereabouts of the ladies has been through the media and not the Police.
He indicated that the families in consultation with CRI had resolved to sue if the Police Service fails to locate the girls.
“I visited the family on Friday and we discussed a few things. What I saw is not something that can be described to be a comfortable situation. The communication is an issue that they are so concerned about. They are not getting the communication from the right quarters. They are not getting the official confirmation from the Police in respect to the whereabouts of their children.. We therefore agreed doing a few things. To pay a executive call on the IGP. We are also looking at petitioning Parliament and if all these fail then we will proceed to court.”
The families of the three girls have threatened to storm the Police CID headquarters on May 2, 2019, to demand proof that the girls are alive.
According to the family, they want firsthand proof that the police service knows where the girls are being held.
The spokesman for families of the three kidnapped girls, Michael Hayford Grant, in an interview with Citi News’ Akwasi Agyei Annim said the action is due to the failure of the police to bring back the girls.
“We are going to the headquarters to call Madam Tiwaa to lead us to where the three girls are. She is saying she knows where the girls are. They should locate the girls. We are not going to fight anybody but we are going to hold Madam Tiwaa responsible,” he said.
The anxious families have spent the last few months protesting and demanding urgency from the CID but officials have asked the families to remain steadfast as they continue investigations.
Kidnapped girls will be reunited with their families – Regional Minister
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the new Western Regional Minister had also assured the public of government’s eagerness to reunite the girls with their families.
He noted that the police had engaged in a frantic search for the girls adding that, “I want to assure all the residents that together with the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the security agencies, we will definitely bring back the kidnapped girls.”
The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) recently took over investigations into the kidnapping of the three girls.
Security personnel from the United Kingdom and the USA are also helping the police.
The girls, Ruth Quayson, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Priscilla Koranchie are believed to have been kidnapped between August 2018 and January 2019.
The main suspect in the kidnapping, Sam Udoetuk Wills is currently before a court after he escaped from jail in December 2018 following his first arrest.
Over the period, residents in the metropolis have voiced concern over the pace at which investigations have progressed.
Some groups have held protests and also petitioned the President and the Sekondi Regional Coordinating Council over the case.
