The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection wants the police to up the ante in unmasking the culprits behind a kidnapping incident in Takoradi, Western region.

Madam Cynthia Morrison said she is in a “panic mood” and the onus lies on the security agencies to restore confidence in the public.

“They [police] should up their game because kidnapping is not what we hear of in Ghana. It’s sad and I sympathise with the family,” she told Morning Starr host Francis Abban on Wednesday, 23 January 2019.

Kidnapping has been on the rise in the oil-rich region. Residents of the Western region say about seven people have been kidnapped so far, a claim the police have disputed. The police put the figure at three.

A parent of one of three girls who have been kidnapped lamented the alleged kidnappers have refused to bring back his daughter even after paying a demanded ransom.

The Gender Minister has served notice of a meeting with the police chief David Asante-Apeatu to speed up the process of closing in on the kidnappers.

She has appealed to young ladies to “be careful where they go and what calls to respond to.”

While calling on the Takoradi police command to give the case a priority, she stated: “I pray that they [victims] are still alive. I’m a little relieved from what I’m hearing behind the scenes.”

“I’m in a panic mood. The whole country is in a panic mood,” she noted.

Slow motion

Security Analyst Adam Bonah on Tuesday faulted the police in Takoradi for responding poorly to the kidnapping situation in the Western Regional capital.

“Right from the beginning, I think there were some lapses here and there. Probably, the police could have responded quite quickly to be able to rescue these girls, but unfortunately they weren’t able to do that in the first 72 hours and in a kidnap case like this, the first, two to three days if you are not able to do any proper rescue then you know that every other day that passes, the situation will be getting out of hand,” stated Bonah on Starr Today.