Canadians kidnapped in Ghana

2 STUDENTS: REPORT

EDMONTON • Canadians have been kidnapped in Ghana, Global Affairs Canada confirmed on Wednesday.

The government declined to provide any details regarding the number of victims, their gender or ages.

But local media reports say two Canadian women were kidnapped in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region, about 250 kilometres inland from the capital Accra.

News reports from 3news.com, which the Post has been unable to independently confirm, said the two were students at the Kumasi Technical University and that they were abducted around 8 p.m. local time on Monday after they left their apartment.

“The Government of Canada’s first priority is always the safety and security of its citizens,” said an email from Global Affairs spokesman Guillaume Bérubé. “For this reason, we will not comment on or release any information which may compromise ongoing efforts or endanger the safety of Canadians.”

He said in a follow-up email that no further information could be given because of Privacy Act provisions.

The woman who answered the Ghana Police Service press telephone number told the Post “we don’t have any information right now.”

The Post’s inquiry to the school went unanswered.

In a statement to the Post Wednesday evening, Ghanaian high commissioner Joseph Ayikoi Otoo said he had spoken with the director general of police in Ghana and officers are working to find the vehicle the Canadians were taken in. Ghanaian officials declined to further elaborate on the kidnapping.

It’s the latest in a series of kidnappings in the West African country. In April, an Indian businessman was abducted at gunpoint in Kumasi and a ransom demanded.

Before that, a consular-general was abducted while out on his morning walk. GhanaWeb, a media company, reported last month that he was Estonian.

Both men were either rescued by police, or escaped; local media reports vary.

Three local girls are still missing, after vanishing between August 2018 and January 2019.

President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressed the spate of kidnappings last month.

“We are all concerned about this phenomenon of kidnappings which we have not known,” he said. “I am very, very determined on the issue and decisions are being taken as we seek what will be a clear manifestation of the determination I have to deal with this matter.”