‘Ritualist’ taxi driver granted GH¢60K bail after claiming to have killed several people

A 35-year-old taxi driver, Felix Ansah, who claimed to have killed several persons for ritual purposes on live television, has been granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court.

He was granted bail in the sum of GH¢60,000.00 with two sureties by the court presided over by Rosemond Baah Torsu.

In addition to the bail sum, he is to report to the police on Tuesdays every two weeks.

This was after counsel for the accused person, Theophilus Donkor, moved a repeat application for bail for his client which was earlier dismissed.

He urged the trial judge to exercise her discretion and grant the accused bail since he had been in custody for more than two weeks. The judge granted the request.

He is expected to reappear on October 26, 2021. The accused has since pleaded not guilty to a charge of the publication of false news.

The facts presented before the court were that the attention of the police was drawn to a statement made or published on the ‘Maakye’ show on Onua Television station by the accused to the effect that he buried a pregnant woman alive at Ashaiman.

Upon receiving this information, the prosecutor said the police launched an investigation into the matter, which led to the arrest of the accused.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused is a taxi driver and resides at Wejia, Accra.

During the investigation, it was also established that on September 2, 2021, on Onua TV’s morning show ‘Maakye’ with the host Captain Smart, the accused, in response to a question from the host, stated that he (accused) had killed several persons in the past.

“Additionally, the accused person also stated that he buried a pregnant woman alive at Ashaiman to perform a sacrifice for Alfred Agbesi, the former MP for Ashaiman,” the prosecution said.

However, the prosecutor said the police was yet to extend the investigation to locate the scene of the alleged burial and other persons mentioned by the accused person.

There have been several reported cases of ritual murder across the country, with The Ghana Report counting at least five known ones since April 2021.

The Kasoa ritual murder

A 10-year-old boy, Ishmael Mensah Abdallah, was murdered in cold blood for ritual purposes on April 3.

Felix Nyarko, aka Yaw Anane, 16, a mason labourer, who is the first accused, and Nicholas Kini Kwame, 18, a student and second accused, lured Abdallah into an uncompleted building and killed him with a club and a cement block.

According to the police, a fetish priestess had demanded body parts from the two in addition to GH₵5,000 to perform money rituals to make them wealthy.

Ritual Murder: Couple Arrested For Burying Two-Year-Old Son

The police in the Central Region arrested a couple for burying their two-year-old son alive at Asikuma Odobeng Brakwa.

According to the police, Paul Adobaw and his wife Yaa Atta acted on the instructions of a fetish priestess to bury the boy who could not walk nor speak since childbirth.

The self-styled prophetess, Ama Nkansah, had told the suspects that the baby was a spirit child from a river, and if they did not return the baby to the river gods, the couple would continue giving birth to such babies.

The couple and the prophetess took the baby to the backyard of a tenant near a stream called Gyankobeng. At about 12:20 am on May 27, they dug a grave, performed rituals on the child, and buried him alive.

A tenant, Abubakari Mohammed, who saw the three in the act, lodged a report at the Brakwa Police Station on the same day at about 3:30 am.

Fashion Designer ritual murder

Police in Sunyani arrested a 23-year-old fashion designer, Benjamin Adjei, for attempting to sacrifice his 13-year-old nephew for money rituals on May 15.

He lured the victim into a taxi to convey him to the venue for the rituals. The police who had laid ambush at the Abesim-Tano police barrier on the Sunyani-Kumasi highway busted him on their way to the shrine.

A handbag containing one cutlass, a knife, red calico, one-pot, some cola nuts, cowries, and a cash sum of GH₵ 300.00 were recovered from him.

Three Arrested For Beheading 12-Year-Old Boy

Three people were also arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of a 12-year-old boy, Cornelius Eboe Negble, at a shrine at Ndogokope, near Tadzewu, in the Volta Region.

The three, Senanu Ashitor Atsikpo, 28; Kudzo Akpatsu, 49; and Etse Louis, 25; kidnapped the victim from his hometown at Nornyikpo, near Ziope, during a funeral on May 20.

They took him to a shrine and killed him for money rituals.

Rashid Ibrahim Arrested For Beheading Bolt Driver

In Rashid Ibrahim’s case, the 32-year-old killed Israel Agyei Manu, a  33-year-old headteacher of Atonsu-based Rogel Montessori Basic School.

Police in Ashanti Region picked up Rashid Ibrahim on Sunday, July 4, indicating that the suspect who was motivated by riches had confessed to the crime.

He had been promised wealth by some people who instructed him to get a human head for sacrifices.