<<Print>>The Ghana Police Service has once again tried to somewhat justify comments made the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department DCOP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, in the ongoing saga of the missing Takoradi girls, who have now been confirmed dead.
It will be recalled that Maame Tiwaa at a press conference earlier this year said the police knew the whereabouts of the Takoradi missing girls. She later said her comment had been misconstrued and that she was only trying to encourage the families of the kidnapped girls.
This generated a lot of controversy with some calling for her resignation.
Subsequently, some human remains were found at the former residence of one of the suspects, Samuel Udoetuk Wills raising more questions with no answers. This led to a DNA test.
On Monday, 17th September 2019, the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) said the results of the DNA test confirms that the girls are dead.
This has reignited calls for Maame Tiwaa to resign.
And after news broke that the girls are dead the conduct of the police appear tempered perhaps by experience.
According to them, the famous 'we know the whereabouts of the children' remark was as a result of misleading information from the suspect.
Speaking to Kwami Sefa Kayi on why they put out false information, the Director-General of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Police Service, ACP David Eklu said: “it happens sometimes; so it’s a bitter lesson we’ve learnt…let’s see the way forward.”
According to him, “we were acting on some information but it didn’t yield any positive results…we had to come back and retrace our steps.”
Asked if anybody will be punished for putting out the misleading information he said: “this is a very painful moment so let us see how we get over this and the way forward.”
Angry Family
Meanwhile, some of the family members are contesting the results of the DNA test. Some have described it as a cover up and others insist the girls are not dead.
In reaction, ACP David Eklu said: "we appreciate their concern; this is not pleasant news and so normally people will react differently. The IGP had already indicated that if they are not pleased with the results, they can conduct their own test. It is bad news and so the reaction is natural. We don’t want to engage in an argument with them; we sympathize with them we express our condolences as far as our report is concerned. We would have to still work with them until we resolve the issue in terms of a successful prosecution".