The Kumasi High Court has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of two persons for having the phone of missing Rhodaline Amoah-Darko, a staffer of the Lands Commission in Kumasi.
The two suspects, Yaw Boateng and Justice Appiah, were expected in court today (Tuesday, 22 February 2022) to explain why they had the missing woman’s phone.
According to the prosecution, Yaw Boateng found the phone of Rhodaline in a commercial vehicle and then sold it to Justice.
The police traced the mobile phone to Effiduase, near Juaben, and Justice Appiah was arrested with it.
Justice Appiah indicated to the police that he received the phone from Yaw Boateng, who sold it to him.
Yaw Boateng has been charged with stealing, while Justice Appiah has been charged for dishonestly receiving an item after buying the phone.
The failure of the two to appear in court necessitated the warrant.
The 32-year-old Rhodaline Amoah-Darko was reported missing after she allegedly left home at Gyenyase in Kumasi on 30 August 2021 and did not return.
Preliminary investigations into the circumstances leading to the disappearance by the police revealed that the Lands Commission did not assign Mrs Amoah-Darko any official work.
Further information indicated that she was also not assigned with any colleague to do any work before her disappearance.
The police statement also noted that “no other staff of the commission or any other person linked to Mrs Rhodaline Amoah-Darko has been declared missing or found dead.”
But recent investigations have revealed a link of mobile phone communications to implicate the missing woman’s husband, Dr Wilberforce Aggrey.
This is because communication from her mobile phone allegedly from suspected kidnappers demanding a ransom emanated from a location (cell tower) close to her residence.
Again, communication from the husband’s phone reporting the incident to some relatives also emanated from a similar location (cell tower).
During interrogation, Dr Aggrey provided conflicting statements to the police.
On the one hand, he admitted that he sent those messages from Rhodaline’s phone because he was threatened that his family would be harmed if he did not do that.
At the same time, he indicated to the police that he had to send his wife to a place closer to the Volta Lake to ensure that she was safe.
But the police said he has since not been able to tell them the location of Rhodaline. He was also not able to tell the location of Rhodaline’s phone.
Because of the husband’s incoherent statements, the police arrested him as a suspect.
He has since been slapped with fresh charges.
Dr Wilberforce Aggrey, who is also a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is now facing two new charges — kidnapping and deception of a public officer.
He is currently in prison custody. The case has been adjourned to 8 March 2022.