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The Ghana Police Service has confirmed that the kidnapping of two Ghanaian women in Nigeria was the result of a romance scam orchestrated by an international criminal syndicate.
According to the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, the victims, Anastasia Baidoo Arthur and Evelyn Konadu, were lured into Nigeria under the false promise of marriage to supposed white foreign men they had met online.
Police investigations revealed that the suspects, operating under fake identities on Facebook, posed as foreign suitors seeking marriage. Convinced by these online relationships, the victims travelled to Nigeria, where they were abducted upon arrival in Port Harcourt on April 22, 2025.
The kidnappers, identified as Peter Okoye, Paulinus Chidokwe, Chinoso Okafor, and Christian Emeka—are members of a syndicate involved in cyber-enabled romance scams targeting victims in both Ghana and Nigeria. Two of the suspects, Okoye and Emeka, had previous links to fraudulent activities in Ghana, particularly involving QNET operations.
The victims were subjected to brutal treatment, including being stripped, beaten with machetes, and threatened with death. Videos of their torture were circulated on social media and sent to their families alongside ransom demands of GH₵500,000 each. Before the arrests, GH₵18,000 had already been transferred to accounts associated with the suspects.
DCOP Donkor noted that the successful rescue of the victims and arrest of eight suspects followed collaboration between Ghana’s National Signals Bureau and the Nigeria Police Force. Efforts are ongoing to bring both the victims and suspects back to Ghana.
The police have issued a strong warning to the public, urging caution in online relationships and advising citizens to report suspicious digital interactions.
