Three people have been remanded in police custody by an Accra Circuit Court after they allegedly kidnapped one Rolland Clottey at Ablekuma-Joma in the Greater Accra Region. The defendants are 39-year-old trader Kwabena Awere, 37-year-old mason Emmanuel Nyarko Boadi, and 33-year-old farmer Nurudeen Adams. Robbery and kidnapping are the charges brought against Awere and Boadi. Adams is accused of helping to commit a crime, specifically kidnapping. Each of them has entered a not guilty plea to the charge against them.
The accused’s attorney, Akwasi Owusu, had earlier pleaded for his clients’ release on bail, claiming that they had a permanent address and reliable witnesses to serve as sureties. According to Akwasi Owusu, his clients posed no threat to others and wouldn’t obstruct police inquiries. The prosecuting attorney, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong, objected the bail application on the grounds that the investigation into the matter was ongoing and that if the accused were released on bail, it would interfere with police efforts to solve the case. Therefore, the prosecution requested that the accused be kept in custody so that additional inquiries could be made.
As a result, the accused were remanded into police custody by the Samuel Bright Acquah-presiding court and ordered to appear in court again on February 13, 2023. According to the prosecution’s version of events, the accused individuals and other people still at large were all residents of Ablekuma-Joma, whereas the complainant Roland Clottey was a Mason and lived there. The prosecution claimed that on July 27, 2021, the complainant drove his unregistered 125 Royal motorcycle to a neighboring fitting shop to have his exhaust pipe serviced before dropping his kids off at school in Joma CP, a suburb of Accra. According to the report, Awere, Boadi, and four other people who are still at large went to the fitting shop with two cars and two motorcycles.
The Prosecution said Awere alighted from his car and started beating the complainant and pointed out to the rest that he tore the banner. It said the rest also joined Awere and subjected the complainant to beatings. The Prosecution said they later put him in Awere’s car and drove him together with his motorbike to Adams, their boss at his ranch at Joma. It said Adams then ordered Awere, Boadi and their accomplices to take the complainant’s ltel and Tecno mobile phones from him and further subjected him to severe beatings. The Prosecution said the accused persons made the complainant carry a log on his shoulders for strenuous exercise and videoed him.
According to the prosecution, the defendants and their helpers bound the complainant to an electrical pole and made a GHS $2,000.00 ransom demand. When the complainant’s brothers, who were also witnesses in the case, learned about the incident, they went to save him but were attacked by the accused and their allies, who also took their motorcycles, in the process. The prosecution claimed that once the complainant was released, one Moses and Teiko went to pay GHS100.00. According to the statement, the complainant later provided the police with video evidence in which Boadi was seen. Adams was detained and given bail, according to the prosecution, but he later skipped bail. Awere and Boadi allegedly faced arrest as well at their hiding place. The Prosecution said efforts were underway to trace and arrest the other accomplices.
