Priscilla Blessing Bentum, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Ruth Love Quayson
The
online report last weekend about the discovery of human remains in a suburb of
Takoradi and the unsubstantiated categorical addition that they belonged to the
three missing girls has triggered a flurry of reactions across the country.
Emotional Story
The
aspect of the online report which pointed at sexual abuse of the girls was
particularly berated by a cross section of Ghanaians.
Those
who condemned the story think that a categorical statement that the remains
belonged to the three missing girls is far-fetched because, after all, a
forensic report is yet to be received from the forensic experts.
Expectedly,
joining the fray are the parents of the three missing girls who have stated
that the remains do not belong to their daughters.
Last
Friday night, the media scene was eclipsed by the story about a police
operation which led to the discovery of the remains of human parts shortly
after the online news spread, according to a police statement.
The
police statement did not specify that the remains belonged to the missing girls
but explained that the law enforcement officers were led to the site of
exhumation by the man who is suspected to have kidnapped the girls.
Police Statement
The
head of the PR Unit of the CID Headquarters, DSP Juliana Obeng, in a statement,
confirmed the police operation and the retrieval of the human parts.
“The
building was previously occupied by convict Samuel Odoetuk Wills who is one of
the accused persons standing trial for allegedly kidnapping the three Takoradi
girls,” it said, adding “the discovered human remains would be sent to the
forensic science laboratory of the Ghana Police Service for analysis and
further investigation.”
Discovery
The
human remains discovered at Kansaworodo in Takoradi in the Western Region were
discovered in a septic tank by a team from the Criminal Investigations
Department (CID) in Accra and the Western Regional Police Command on Friday
evening.
The
police being led by the key suspect in
the kidnap of the girls, 28-year-old Samuel Udoetuk Wills to a place near an
uncompleted building where the suspect resided with blaring sirens, attracted
so many to the scene.
Not
even the police stopping people from getting too close could give the necessary
cover for the operation.
The
suspect, who reportedly was not cooperating with the police, even as they tried
to obtain leads for them to track the missing girls, made some disclosures
which informed the movement to the Takoradi suburb.
Families Speak
Francis
Bentum, father of Priscilla Blessing Bentum, the first girl to be kidnapped,
told DAILY GUIDE that he believes his
daughter is alive.
Having
been told by the police that the girls were alive, he said he would not accept
the story about the retrieval of the supposed remains of their daughters.
“We
have not received any official information from the police on the new
development. So we still believe our daughters are alive,” Mr Francis Bentum
pointed out.
Rebecca
Quayson, an elder sister of Ruthlove Quayson, the second victim, described the
police operation as a diversionary tactic, adding “the alleged skulls they
retrieved could be that of a male. All we believe is that we will soon see our
sister.”
Killing Threat
Alexander
Kojo Koranchie, father of Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie, the last victim, also
revealed that the prime suspect in the kidnapping case once called him and
threatened to kill his daughter.
Mr
Koranchie, who said he was restless when he heard the news on Friday evening,
indicated that until the police carried out their investigations to prove that
indeed the remains were that of the girls, he still believed that his daughter
would be found.
Special Operation
An
eyewitness who resides opposite where the police carried out last Friday’s
operation told DAILY GUIDE that she
saw some people cordoning off the scene amid tight security at about 4 p.m.
“They
later approached me for a machete, shovel and pick axe. Then I saw another
batch coming and blowing sirens and so I realized they were policemen in plain
clothes,” she added.
The
eyewitness, a teacher, narrated that the personnel weeded the area including
where the septic tank with four concrete slabs were. Continuing, she said a
Ghana Prison Service cesspool vehicle arrived and started pulling the faecal
matter from the septic tank.
“They
then used a bamboo with nail on it to retrieve some human parts from the septic
tank. These were put inside two boxes and transferred to one of the police
vehicle at about 7:30 p.m.
Suspect At The Scene
“Then
I saw Udoetuk Wills being pushed into another vehicle and they sped off,” she
added.
She
said: “The accused person might have used some chemicals to neutralize the
stench originating from the decomposing bodies in the tank. A dead fish was found
in a river into which the contents of the septic tank were discharged.”
Police Visit Family
On
Saturday, police personnel, led by the Western Regional Police Commander,
visited the family members of the three missing girls at their respective
residence to officially brief them on the operation.
A
police source told DAILY GUIDE that
the personnel of the law enforcement agency appealed to the family members to
make themselves available when necessary during a DNA text that would be
conducted on the retrieved human parts.
Residents Shocked
Most
residents of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis were dumbfounded when they
received the news about the retrieval of some body parts suspected to be that
of the three missing girls.
What
made matters worse was the fact that the police retrieved the body parts from a
septic tank behind the house of Samuel Udoetuk Wills and that he led the police
to the scene, dashing the hopes of the residents that the girls were alive.
The
three girls – Ruthlove Quayson, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Priscilla
Koranchie – were kidnapped between August and December 2018.
The
prime suspect, Udoetuk Wills, and his alleged accomplice, John Oji, are
currently before a Sekondi High Court on the charges of conspiracy to commit
crime, to wit kidnapping and kidnapping.
Public Anxiety
The
country is waiting anxiously for the results of the forensic tests. As for the
parents of the missing girls, their adrenalin level at this time can only be
imagined.
In a related development, a cross section of Ghanaians have expressed concern about what for them is the insensitivity of media reportage about tragedies and called for circumspection in related reportage.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Kansaworodo- Takoradi
The post Shock Over T’di Girls ‘Dead Bodies’; DNA Test Begins appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
