The suspects
It appears the
GH¢200,000 bail with two sureties each granted to some members of the alleged
criminal gang who kidnapped the two Canadian ladies in Kumasi is beyond their execution, as they
are still struggling to meet the bail terms.
It has been more
than a month since an Accra High Court granted four out of the eight accused
persons bail after their respective lawyers fought for it in the court,
presided over by Justice George Buadi.
But the accused
persons continue to be held in the detention of the Bureau of National
Investigations (BNI) as a result of their inability to get people to stand as
sureties for them.
Seidu Abubakari
aka Nba, who was initially rumoured to be the ringleader
of the group, Abdul Nasir, Safianu Abubakari and Abdul Rahman Suleiman aka Wofa
were on July 25, 2019 each granted a GH¢200,000 bail with two sureties each,
one each to be justified by the court.
But they have not
been able to meet the terms of the bail and were subsequently brought to court
together with the other four accused persons by personnel of the BNI.
Sources had on
the previous court sitting day told DAILY GUIDE that persons willing to
stand sureties for Seidu Abubakar and one other accused person have presented
documents to the registry of the court.
According to
sources, the court had begun taking steps to confirm the authenticity of the
documents and the values of the properties being used as justification for the
bail.
It is, however,
not clear whether the sureties could not meet the bail terms as set by the
court, which is why the accused persons are still in detention.
At yesterday’s
proceedings, the court presided over by a vacation judge, Justice Ekow Baiden,
adjourned the matter to September 19, 2019 since the case was only scheduled
for mention until the end of the legal vacation for the substantive judge to
resume sitting on the matter.
Arrest/Trial
An all-Ghanaian
security operation led by the National Security on June 12 rescued the two
Canadian ladies who were abducted from the gates of their hostel in a Kumasi
suburb last month.
They were said to
have kidnapped their victims and kept them in an uncompleted building on the
outskirts of town and demanded a ransom of $800,000.
The two ladies
had boarded an Uber to their hostel at Nhyiayeso behind the Vienna Hotel but
were accosted by the accused persons when they arrived at their destination and
alighted from the car.
They are Sampson Aghalor aka Romeo, Elvis Ojiyorwe, Jeff Omarsar, Yusif Yakubu, Abdul Nasir, Seidu Abubakar aka Mba, Safianu Abubakari and Abdul Rahman Suleman aka Wofa.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak
