A former Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, COP Bright Oduro (Rtd.) says it is about time an official liaison is appointed by the Police Service for the families of the Takoradi kidnapped girls.
According to him, the liaison officer will serve as a link between the police and the affected families as they search for the girls.
His comments come at the time, the families if the missing girls have vowed to protest the lack of answers from the investigative body.
“I think there is a problem. This is a major incident investigations and I think that a member of the investigation team should act as a family liaison who will inform the family about the state of the investigation. He is not expected to give details of the [full] investigation, he will just give them bits so that at every point in time, the family is well briefed about what is happening so that they wouldn’t come out to make certain statements that they are not hearing from the police and that the police are not doing much”, he said on Eyewitness News.
The families of the three girls who were kidnapped in Takoradi have served notice that they will on May 2, 2019, storm the Police CID headquarters 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.
But COP Oduro (Rtd.), says these incidents could be avoided if there was a family liaison who updates the family on processes so far to calm tempers.
“In a major incident like this, where the family is traumatized, the police must be informing the family so that they are reassured. The idea of having a family liaison these days are everywhere. Everyone needs to know what is going on. If there is a person who will be informing the public, then that speculation and unfortunate statements from the family will be reduced. If they (CID) have not, then it is time for them to have one to serve as a liaison.”
The kidnappings
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.
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 of the investigations.
Some groups have held protests and also petitioned the President and the Sekondi Regional Coordinating Council over the case.