A shocking case of kidnapping and financial exploitation has unfolded in Ghana, involving two Nigerians and an 80-year-old American woman.
Emmanuel Adedoyin Adebayo, a 28-year-old trader, and Esther Ogbonna, a beautician, have been arrested and charged in connection with the crime, while a third suspect, Dennis Poromo, remains at large.
According to Prosecuting Chief Inspector Daniel Danku, the victim, Diana Christine Nelson, arrived in Ghana on November 22, 2024, after being deceived online by Adebayo, who posed as a well-known American actor, Mark Hammond.
Ogbonna picked Nelson up from Kotoka International Airport and transported her to an apartment in East Legon Hills before relocating her to Tema Community 11, where she was held captive.
The FBI reported the case on December 6, 2024, after learning that Nelson had been kidnapped.
Police intelligence led to the discovery of Nelson at a hotel in Larteh-Akwapim in the Akuapem North Municipality of the Eastern Region on December 8, 2024.
Three days later, Adebayo was caught attempting to withdraw money from Nelson’s U.S. bank account using her ATM debit card.
Under interrogation, Adebayo led officers to an apartment in Tema Community 11, where Nelson was found traumatized and later taken to the hospital for medical attention.
Investigations revealed that Adebayo and Poromo withdrew a total of $15,821.70 from Nelson’s bank account and demanded $150,000 in ransom from her family.
The accused confiscated Nelson’s four mobile phones and bank cards, preventing her from communicating with anyone.
The stolen phones, including an iPhone 12, Samsung Galaxy A15, and a Bru phone, were later sold at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra. Authorities recovered GHC7,000 from the phone sales and GHC4,000 from ATM withdrawals.
However, the iPhone 12 remains missing.
Adebayo and Poromo face charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and theft, kidnapping, and theft, while Ogbonna has been charged with abetment.
Both Adebayo and Ogbonna pleaded not guilty.
The court granted bail to the two accused in the sum of GHC500,000 with two sureties, one of whom must be a Nigerian from the Ghanaian Nigerian community, and the other a Ghanaian.
The case has been adjourned to March 5, 2025, as law enforcement continues to search for the third suspect, Dennis Poromo.
-BY Daniel Bampoe
