The kidnappers of the two Canadian women in the Ashanti Region had demanded an $800,000 ransom for their release, it has been revealed.
This was revealed when the suspects, five Ghanaians and three Nigerians, were arraigned before the Accra High Court.
Six out of the eight persons arrested in connection with the kidnapping were remanded in police custody when they made their first appearance in court on Friday since their arrest.
The accused persons are Sampson Aghalor aka Romeo, Elvis Ojiyorwe, Jeff Omarsar, all Nigerians.
The others are Yusif Yakubu, Abdul Nasir and Seidu Abubakari aka Nba – Ghanaians.
All of them were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, while Aghalor, Ojiyorwe, Omarsar and Yakubu, were separately charged with kidnapping.
According to the prosecution, Aghalor, who was the leader of the gang, called the families of the two girls and demanded $800,000 as ransom.
In order to prove that they were serious, the gang smeared blood on the girls and on the floor, the court head.
Canada doesn’t pay ransom
According to Gar Pardy, a former ambassador and Canada’s director-general of consular affairs for 11 years, the Canadian government does not pay ransom.
Pardy, said to be involved with more than 100 kidnapping negotiations around the world, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the people who abducted the Canadian students didn’t ask for a ransom.
According to him, it was just a matter of time. “There would’ve been a ransom,” he said.
No ransom paid
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said at a press briefing that government did not pay any form of ransom for the release of two kidnapped Canadian girls.
He said operatives of the national security and the kidnappers didn’t exchange money before the girls were spotted and rescued.
Briefing the press after a sting operation by the Ghana Police Force and national security personnel rescued the girls, Oppong Nkrumah said, “No ransom was paid, no ransom was discussed in this matter.”
“Our security agencies showed earlier intelligence report, did their work and then got to the conclusion of this matter. No ransom was paid between our security agencies and these persons.”
