The Office of the Attorney General is yet to receive the docket on the full findings regarding the four Takoradi girls’ kidnapping case, including the DNA result, to enable it to give official advice.
The
two Nigerian suspects in the case, Sam Udoetuk Wills, 28, and John Oji, 29, have
been hauled before a Sekondi High Court and charged with six counts of
conspiracy to commit a crime to wit, kidnapping and kidnapping, but the two
pleaded not guilty.
The
high-profile suspects were brought to court yesterday amid tight security.
During
court proceedings, a State Attorney, Adelaide Kobiri-Woode, indicated that
steps to amend the charges had not been completed.
She
also said that a new test had been conducted about three weeks ago but did not tell
the court the kind of test that was done.
The
prosecutor then pleaded with the court to adjourn the case to enable the
investigators to complete their work.
The
Presiding Judge, Hanna Taylor, subsequently adjourned the case to January 22,
2020 to allow the prosecution to be furnished with the full findings in the
case to enable the State Attorney to amend the charge sheet.
After
the proceedings when journalists approached the prosecutor to know exactly what
the case might be, she declined to comment.
The
main suspect in the kidnapping, Sam Udoetuk Wills, was sentenced to 18 months’
imprisonment for escaping from cells in December 2018
following his arrest.
John
Oji, who was alleged to have conspired with Samuel Wills to escape with the
girls, was arrested in neighbouring Togo through a special operation by the security
agencies.
In
September this year, the Ghana Police Service announced that the four missing
girls in Takoradi were dead.
The
announcement was made by then acting and now Inspector General of Police, James
Oppong-Boanuh, at a press conference after a DNA test on the skeletal remains
of the girls retrieved from some parts of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis was
concluded.
The girls — Ruth Quayson, Priscilla Blessing Bentum, Priscilla Koranchie and Ruth Abekah — were believed to have been kidnapped between August 2018 and January 2019.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi
