Adaeze Onyinyechie Ayoka, known as Ms Ada of YFm, went missing for about a week but was discovered Tuesday, a day after nude pictures depicting acts of rape she suffered in the hands of her captors went viral on social media.

 

Ada is currently undergoing counselling and examination at GHAPOHA Hospital in Takoradi, but the Minister told Joy News he was saddened by the news and reiterated calls on people to stop sharing the nude images.

 

Dr. Omane Boamh who is a medical doctor by profession said, “Such an ordeal could have only be contemplated by diseased and dark minds; we will continue to urge the security agencies to do all that they can do so that they will bring the culprit to book…I am confident the security agencies will do just that.”

 

Government will do everything possible to protect the dignity of Ada as a lady, he assured.

 

Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, indicated that his outfit was unhappy about how the media reported the alleged rape incident.

 

In his opinion, the media should have been sensitive and more professional in the way the news was reported.

 

“In the morning when I heard the story and decided to check online, I realised that almost all the online portals that had reported this story, about kidnap and rape, had the lady’s name disclosed, where she works has been disclosed, her alias has been disclosed and all other things, and on some websites it includes the photos of the alleged rape incident,” he said.

 

He criticised the media for not holding on to its ethical principles of not disclosing the identities of victims in such cases.

 

“Other principles of our own GJA (Ghana Journalists Association) code requires that we give respect to privacy and dignity of persons, particularly when they are in grief or distress,” he reminded journalists, emphasising, “I think the media have failed in doing their work well in this particular issue.”

 

Meanwhile, the Media Foundation for West Africa has since issued a statement to register their disapproval of the media reportage.