Kidnapped German saved from captors

Page 34: Daily Graphic, January 16, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 58-year-old German lady has been rescued from eight kidnappers after she had been lured into the country on January 2, 2009.
The victim, Madam Sonja Kaiser, was lured into the country on the pretext of meeting her British Internet lover, Alvin Walker, only to be whisked away to a house at Taifa in Accra where she was held hostage until her release on Tuesday afternoon by personnel of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
There were blisters on the body of Sonja, who claimed that she had been beaten by her captors.
Eight suspects, including a female, were arrested during the swoop on the house.
They are Hannah Aidoo, 22; Kojo Boateng, 25; Dennis Asamoah, 23; Isaac Amuzu, 30; Godwin Hunusugbo, 27; James Afari, 23; Roland Gyan, 22, and Daniel Abebrese, 27.
Sources at the BNI Headquarters told newsmen in Accra on Tuesday that Sonja, who said she is a nurse, said she had been dating a certain Alvin Walker on the Internet and had invitation from him to come to Ghana to visit him.
Under the arrangements, Alvin was to send a driver to pick her up at the airport on arrival.
Accordingly, Godwin, who is a driver, picked up Sonja from the airport on January 2, 2009 and took her to the house at Taifa.
The sources said instead of meeting Alvin, Sonja was kept in a small room where the suspects demanded 140,000 euros from her before releasing her.
They said Sonja claimed the amount was too much for her son in Germany to afford.
The sources said after an initial bargaining, the figure came down to 60,000 euros after she had stated that she could not afford 100,000 euros either.
Subsequently, Sonja called her son in Germany with the story that she had knocked down a child while driving with Alvin.
The sources said Sonja allegedly told her son that the police were demanding 60,000 euros before releasing her from custody.
The son, the sources said, contacted the German Embassy in Accra for assistance and the embassy in turn notified the BNI.
They said after visiting all the police stations in the Greater Accra Region without any trace of Sonja, the BNI became convinced that she had been kidnapped.
They said personnel of the BNI, with the help of the German Embassy in Accra, were able to trace the suspects to the house at Taifa where they rescued Sonja from her captors.