Taxi driver ‘murder ritualist’ remanded into police custody
A 35-year-old taxi driver, Felix Ansah, who claimed on live television to have killed several persons for ritual purposes, has been remanded by an Accra Circuit Court.
The accused, who appeared before the court on Monday, September 13, pleaded not guilty to the charge of publication of false news.
Counsel for the accused person Theophilus Donkor raised an application for bail.
He told the court that his client was speaking in a spiritual realm during the interview adding: “If anything at all, it is Onua TV that made the publication and not the accused person”.
The prosecution, represented by Chief Inspector Godfred Asiedu Bampoe, who held the brief for Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare, opposed the bail application.
He urged the court to remand the accused person to enable the police complete its investigation.
The accused person is to re-appear on September 16, 2021.
The facts presented before the court were that police attention was drawn to a statement made or published on the “Maakye show on Onua Televisan station by the accused to the effect that he buried a pregnant woman alive at Ashaiman.
Upon the receipt of this information, the prosecutor said the police launched investigation into the matter which led to the arrest of the accused.
Preliminary investigation revealed that 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 a 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 sacrifice for Alfred Agbesi, the former MP for Ashaiman,” Chief Inspector Bampoe told the court.
However, the prosecutor said the police was yet to extend 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 Montesorri 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.