Security Analyst, Emmanuel Sowatey, has attributed the recent phenomenon of kidnapping, which many people have described as alien, to unemployment in Ghana.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Mr Sowatey said the monies paid to people engaged in kidnapping makes it profitable enough to draw more people to it.
“Kidnapping is an
industry on its own and not any different from terrorism but because people are
unemployed and there is money involved in this, people are attracted to go into
it. They tend to make a lot of money because the longer period these kidnappers
keep you, the higher the money they take,” he explained.
To Mr Sowatey, it is about time the government makes a conscious effort in building the capacity of Ghana’s security agencies to combat such crimes.
There has been recent
cases of kidnapping and attacks on foreign nationals and Ghanaians in the
country.
The fate of three families in the Western region continues to hang in the balance after their relatives went missing in 2018.
Three girls – Ruth Love Quayson, Pricilla Blessing Bentum and Priscilla Koranchie – were reported missing in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, and one in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality in the Western Region between August 2018 and January 2019.
The Police are
currently under public pressure to aggressively pursue cases of kidnapping in
Ghana.