A hawker, who allegedly faked his kidnap after spending GH₵1, 000, being savings (Susu) of his friends, has been arrested by the Airport Police, in Accra.
The suspect, Emmanuel Kojo Dogbe, 46, who sells bitter kola at the Dworwulu traffic light in Accra, used the modus operandi to cover up his inability to refund the money given to him for safekeeping.
He has been cautioned on the offence of deceit of public officer and has been processed for court, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge, the Head of Public Relations at the Accra Regional Police Command.
She said that on December 21, last year, the Airport Police received a complaint that around 1:30pm same day , Dogbe had called his co-tenant on phone that he had been kidnapped and taken to a house at Kawukudi in Accra.
DSP Tenge said when the police dialed the suspect’s contact number, the phone was switched off while further preliminary information gathered by the Cyber Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was inconsistent.
She said on the eve of Christmas day at about 5pm, the suspect called his neighbour in the presence of the police and informed him that his kidnappers had relocated him to a building behind Alliance Francaise, in Accra.
According to DSP Tenge, the suspect ended the call abruptly and switched off his phone, but the Cyber Crime Unit traced the said location.
She said the police nabbed Dogbe on January 8,this year, while plying his trade in the traffic at Tema roundabout.
DSP Tenge said investigations revealed that he was not kidnapped neither was he robbed, but he fabricated the story to prevent his friends from demanding their moneys .
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
