Two Ghanaian women who were kidnapped in Nigeria after they fell victim to an online romance scam have been rescued, the Ghana Police Service has confirmed from where they were being held hostage in Nigeria.
The victims, Anastasia Badoo Atta and Evelyn Serwaa Konadu, were lured to Nigeria on April 22, 2025, after they were deceived by criminals posing as white men on Facebook who promised to marry them. The kidnappers used this fake relationship to convince the women to travel separately to Nigeria, where they were abducted upon arrival.
The rescue operation was a joint effort between the Ghana Police Service, the National Signals Bureau (NSB), and the Nigeria Police Force.
The two women were seen in a disturbing video that went viral. In one of the clips, one of the victims was seen tied with ropes, lying naked and bleeding on the floor as she was brutally beaten with a cutlass and threatened with death.
In another video, the attackers allowed the woman to speak. Speaking in Twi, a Ghanaian local language, she pleaded desperately for help:
“Please help me, I have been kidnapped. Kindly pay my ransom, I beg you in the name of God.”
The video caused public outrage and led to swift action by law enforcement agencies in both countries.
The kidnappers sent the assaulting video to the victims’ families and demanded GHS500,000 each as ransom.
So far, the families of the victims have paid a total of GHS18,000 to various phone numbers linked to the suspects.
During a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday, May 6TH, 2025, DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), stated that the police received the kidnapping complaint from a relative of Anastasia,and later received the same complaint from Evelyn’s relative as well. She added that their investigation later revealed the victims were being held by Peter Okoye and his accomplices.
A total of eight suspects were arrested during the operation, five of them were arrested in Ghana and the rest in Nigeria.
DCOP Donkor then assured the public that the victims are in stable condition and have received medical care. She said both the victims and suspects are currently with Nigerian authorities, but efforts are underway to bring them back to Ghana.
“As of today, both suspects and victims are with the Nigerian authorities, and efforts are being made to transport the victims to Ghana and also extradite the suspects to Ghana to assist investigations,” she stated.
The Ghana Police has urged the public, especially women, to be cautious when interacting with strangers online and not to fall for suspicious marriage proposals or travel offers.
Authorities say investigations are still ongoing to gather more evidence and ensure justice is served.
