How A 12-Year-Old Was Abducted and Killed For Rituals In the Volta Region

Seven individuals have been arrested in connection with what police are calling a ritual murder of a 12-year-old boy in the Akatsi North District of the Volta Region.

The boy, whose name was given as Cornelius Negble, is said to have gone missing on the morning of May 22 this year from his farming community of Nyornikpor. The boy had been declared missing after all searches failed but the assemblyman for the area was tipped off at the end of May about the suspected misdeed of one resident in the area.

It was the assemblyman who led a group of people to effect a citizen’s arrest of one of the suspects. It was at the point revealed by the suspect that Negble had been abducted and killed for ritual purposes, police said.

The Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP Edward Oduro Kwarteng, said the other six suspects were all arrested separately. Some of them had been arrested by Interpol in Togo and extradited to Ghana to assist in investigations.

Those who were in Togo were two who had absconded after learning of the arrests of their alleged accomplices. An international arrest warrant was sought on June 18 for their capture.

But the police only found out on May 31 that Negble had been killed after the initial arrests led them to the shrine of one Kofi Anani Koko at Nudowukorpe near Tadzewu.

A search at the shrine by the police revealed a motorbike that is thought to have conveyed the boy to his death, as well as other items belonging to some of the suspects.

Police had been hopeful of rescuing Negble but “but the little boy had been killed, and the head severed and buried in one of the rooms while the body kept in a sack which was heavily infested with maggots,” DCOP Oduro told the media.

Koko was arrested along with another, Senanu Ashitor, who reportedly deals in securing human parts for rituals.

The seven have already faced committal proceedings before the Agortime-Ziope District Magistrate Court and are expected to return on July 5.

A recent history of ritual murders

A number of killings in the recent past that have rocked the country have been described as ritual murders. Multiple reasons, including TV and radio shows that advertise magical money-making, have been mentioned as causes of these killings.

On April 4, 2021, two teenagers were arrested by the police in Kasoa in the Central Region for their alleged involvement in a murder related to money rituals.

Felix and Nicholas are said to have lured their victim into an uncompleted building and reportedly killed him.

He was playing a video game when he was called into the uncompleted building by his playmates, who are known residents in the area.

Per the reports, the accused persons hit Ishmael with an object which resulted in instant death.

According to sources, the incident happened at the Kasoa suburb of Lamptey Mills on Saturday, April 3, 2021, between 5 pm and 6 pm.