John Oji
Details are emerging about how the
missing three Takoradi girls were kidnapped by their Nigerian captors.
The court in Takoradi heard how Samuel
Udoetuk Wills, the 28-year-old Nigerian, suspected to have kidnapped the three
girls, admitted that he conspired with John Oji, 29, to escape with the girls
who are yet to be found.
According to a Chief State
Attorney, Patience Klinogo, Udoetuk Wills admitted in the presence of an
independent witness that he conspired with Oji to kidnap the victims – Priscilla
Blessing Bentum, Ruth Love Quayson and Priscilla Mantebea Korankye.
Udoetuk and Oji were in court
yesterday for the continuation of their trial.
Giving the amended facts of the
case in court yesterday, the Chief State Attorney said contrary to the denials
by Udoetuk in his previous statements on the allegations against him, he, on
June 7, 2019, in the presence of an independent witness, admitted being part of
kidnapping the victims.
She told the packed court that
after kidnapping the victims, Udoetuk went to his fiancée called Emily Alimo at
Atekyem, a suburb of Koforidua in the Eastern Region and spent three weeks there
before returning to Takoradi.
She indicated that when Emily Alimo
was contacted in August 2018, she initially denied knowing Udoetuk until later
in December 2018 when she admitted she knew Udoetuk Wills and that he was her
boyfriend.
According to the Chief State
Attorney, the girlfriend subsequently gave the particulars of the Facebook
account of Samuel Wills. She mentioned that on December 21, 2018,
Prinscilla Korankye was also kidnapped at Nkroful
junction near Takoradi.
Suspects Plead Not Guilty
When their plea was taken
yesterday, the two suspects pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping.
Blood Sacrifice
The Chief State Attorney indicated
that Facebook chats of the two accused persons from the mobile phone of Udoetuk
Wills revealed coded language on kidnapping and blood sacrifice.
It also revealed discussions on drugs which could be administered to victims to stupor.
After giving the facts of the case,
the judge, Justice Hannah Taylor, asked the prosecutors to serve the accused
persons with the amended charge sheet and present all exhibits to court at the
next adjourned date.
The accused persons were, therefore,
remanded in prison custody pending trial and the case adjourned to October 16,
2019.
Parents Go Wild
Hell broke loose at the forecourt
of the court when some of the parents of the kidnapped girls attempted to
pounce on the suspects after the case was adjourned.
The visibly angry parents who sat
quietly in the courtroom suddenly flared up after the judge announced the next
adjourned date. They attempted to attack Udoetuk when they were being escorted
into a waiting van.
Samuel Udoetuk-Wills has already
been sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment to run concurrently for escaping from
lawful custody.
John Oji was arrested in neighbouring Togo through a special operation by the Ghanaian Police.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi
