The suspects
The trial of Felix Nyarko and Nicholas Kwame Kini, the two teenagers who allegedly killed an 11-year-old boy at Kasoa in the Central Region during the Easter Holidays, is set to begin next month when the legal vacation is over.
The two were originally expected to make their first appearance before a High Court last Monday, September 20, for the commencement of the trial following their committal by a Kaneshie District Court.
But DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the trial will not begin this month but rather next month when a new legal year begins, ostensibly because the prosecution does not want to put them before a vacation judge in order to avoid future delays of the trial.
The gruesome killing of 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah Abdallah by Nyarko and Kini at Lamptey Mills, near Kasoa in the Central Region, for purported ritual purposes, sparked outrage.
Felix Nyarko, the first accused, was said to have been enthralled by television commercials about spiritualists who can make people instant millionaires.
He then narrated the story to his friend Nicholas Kini, who recommended a spiritualist who could be valuable in this regard.
Intriguing details emerged about how the two teenage ‘murderers’ initially wanted to kidnap the boy, collect ransom of GH¢5,000 and then go ahead to kill him to enable them to get to the so-called spiritualist to become millionaires.
The murder of the eleven-year-old boy stunned the nation when graphic pictures of the deceased in the midst of an angry crowd being prevented by the police from lynching the teenagers went viral on social media and on mainstream television.
Committal Proceedings
A Kaneshie District Court presided over by Her Honour Rosemond Agyiri, on August 16, 2021, committed the accused persons to stand trial at the High Court after it found that there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
The court during the committal proceedings was shocked when one of the teenagers ‘confessed’ that they killed a pregnant woman prior to the gruesome killing of 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah Abdallah, for money rituals.
Nyarko, who made the revelation, was surprised his accomplice, Kini, was not willing to confess to the crime, insisting before open court that this was not the first time they had killed.
Nyarko also told the court how he had seen the ghost of the young boy (Abdallah) who threatened to kill him if he fails to confess to the crime.
Gruesome Action
One of the accused, Felix Nyarko, during his committal narrated how they lured the young boy with an electronic game into an uncompleted building where they murdered him.
He said upon reaching the uncompleted building, Kini was already waiting for them and he assisted the victim to climb into the room.
“When we got there, Nicholas Kini told Ishmael (victim) that the game was in the sack over there so Nicholas bent down to pick the game from the sack. Nicholas then used a club to hit the back of his head and he fell to the floor, unable to speak. We dragged him closer to us and Nicholas hit him again with the club,” he narrated.
Nyarko told the court that his sister heard a noise and walked towards the uncompleted building but “I told her it was nothing so she should go back.”
He said he then picked a block and just when he was about to hit the victim “he (victim) asked me ‘you that you are my good friend, why are you doing this to me. What have I done to you’?”
Nonetheless, the accused person said he hit Ishmael Abdallah with the block, but said he was still breathing.
Buried Alive
Nyarko said he then brought two shovels and they dug a shallow hole and dropped Ishmael Abdallah inside.
He said realising that the deceased was still breathing, they put more sand on him while he was still alive.
He said he picked another block but heard his mother calling him so he dropped it and went out of the uncompleted building, leaving Nicholas behind.
He told the court how he later went to carry water for his mother and upon his return, his parent asked him how he could have done what he did.
The accused told the court about the events that led to the discovery of the body and how angry residents of the area subjected them to severe beatings following the incident.
Exhibits
The prosecution then presented the court with exhibits which included one shovel, one spade, a club, pieces of cement blocks, pictures of sand mixed with blood, investigation caution statements of accused persons, pictures of the deceased, and photographs of the crime scene which they intend to rely on for the main trial.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak