Two Nigerians have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping an 80-year-old American woman in Ghana. The suspects, Emmanuel Adedoyin Adebayor, a 28-year-old trader, and Esther Ogbonna, a beautician, were apprehended following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Ghanaian police. A third suspect, Dennis Poromo, remains at large.

The accused appeared before an Accra Circuit Court, where Adebayor and Poromo were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping, and theft. Esther faces an abetment charge. Both Adebayor and Esther pleaded not guilty.

Presiding Judge Samuel Bright Acquah granted bail to Adebayor and Esther at GHC500,000 each, with two sureties. One surety must be a member of the Nigerian community in Ghana, while the other should be Ghanaian. The accused were also ordered to surrender their travel documents to the court registrar and report to the police twice a month. The case has been adjourned to March 5, 2025.

According to the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Daniel Danku on behalf of Superintendent Augustine Yirenkyi, the victim, Diana Christine Nelson, arrived in Ghana on November 22, 2024. On December 6, the FBI’s Accra office reported her kidnapping to Ghanaian authorities.

Investigations led the police to a hotel in Larteh Akwapim, where they found clues linking Adebayor to the crime. He was arrested on December 11 while attempting to withdraw money from the victim’s U.S. bank account using her debit card. He later led police to a house in Tema Community 11, where the victim was found in a traumatized state and immediately taken to the hospital.

The prosecution revealed that Adebayor had posed as Mark Hammond, a well-known American actor, to lure Nelson to Ghana. Esther, the second accused, picked her up from Kotoka International Airport and initially housed her in East Legon Hills before moving her to Tema. Throughout her captivity, Esther was responsible for her care.

The kidnappers confiscated Nelson’s four mobile phones and bank cards, warning her not to disclose any information. Adebayor and Poromo allegedly withdrew $15,821.70 from her bank account and demanded a $150,000 ransom from her family.

During investigations, police retrieved the victim’s bank cards and some of her phones, including a “Bru phone” and a Samsung Galaxy A15, which had been sold at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra. However, her iPhone 12 remains missing. Additionally, police recovered GHC7,000 from the sale of the phones and GHC4,000 from ATM withdrawals.