General News of Wednesday, 28 August 2019

Source: mynewsgh.com

‘Ghana Police Watch’ puts out special update on Takoradi Missing Girls

The missing girls have still not been found a year after they went missing The missing girls have still not been found a year after they went missing

It is a story that has generated intense interest across the nation and viewers of the Ghana Police Watch television series now have the chance to see a special update on the matter of the four Takoradi missing girls.

The saga of the Takoradi girls started in July 2018 when 18-year-old Ruth Abakah went missing . Three other girls – Priscilla Bentum , 21; Ruth Quayson , 18 and Priscilla Koranchie, also 18 – could not be found in August and December last year.

There have been bits and pieces of television reporting about the girls on a variety of news and current affairs programmes but the Ghana Police Watch hasmanaged to put together a 55-minute detailed, gripping documentary on the continually unfolding story.

The documentary contains exclusive footage of the criminal investigation, interviews with all the four families, background information of the ongoing DNA testing, playback of crucial telephone conversations and recreated scenes that offer more understanding of how the four got missing.

Public interest and concern about the case was further heightened when police found suspected human remains in a well and septic tank at sites previously inhabited by the key suspect in the case, Samuel Wills.

In the special update, key police officials such as DCOP Vincent Dedjoe, Western Regional Police Commander and ACP Duuti Tuakura, Takoradi Divisional Commander, talk about how the staff under them have been working around the clock to unravel everything possible related to the matter.

They refer to the special units of the police which have joined the daily patrols combing the Twin City of Sekondi/Takoradi to offer a sense of security to the populace. Their input add to why the Ghana Police Watch special update from the Twin City is a must-watch for all to know the latest about the missing girls’ case.



Detective Inspector Dorcas Obemah Asare also takes the programme’s host, Israel Laryea, to some of the key crime spots and explains how the police, through smart intelligence gathering, got essential leads that are now helping the investigation.

The most touching bits of the documentary are the interviews with the parents and close relatives of the four missing girls. They express their anguish, and in some cases, burst into tears as they comment on the still evolving case.

Some of the relatives talk about why they eventually decided to offer samples for DNA testing when they had initially declined to do so. With all of them, the hope is that the girls would be come back home safely.

There are edifying interviews with forensic and DNA experts who point out the necessity for the DNA testing to help advance the current investigation. What they say explain and teach the lay person what their expertise is about and why the public should have trust in the forensic experts on the case.



Supt/Dr. Kofi Afrifah, Head, Ghana Police Forensic Laboratory; DSP/Mr. Alexander Badi-Boateng, DNA Analyst, Ghana Police Forensic Laboratory; Chief Supt/Dr. Osei Owusu –Afriyie, Pathologist, Ghana Police Hospital and Dr. Richmond Afoakwa, Head of Department of Forensic Science, University of Cape Coast, are all reassuring in their contributions that everything would be done to produce accurate results from the remains found so far.

The weekly Ghana Police Watch television series is in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service and produced by Creative Storm Networks. Each edition features special reports, special news bulletins and community concerns about how we can all enhance our personal safety and that of friends and family. It shows on about 23 stations nationwide.