The suspects
It appears the GH¢200,000 bail with two sureties each granted to some members of the alleged criminal gang who kidnapped the two Canadian ladies in Kumasi is beyond their execution, as they are still struggling to meet the bail terms.
It has been more than a month since an Accra High Court granted four out of the eight accused persons bail after their respective lawyers fought for it in the court, presided over by Justice George Buadi.
But the accused persons continue to be held in the detention of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) as a result of their inability to get people to stand as sureties for them.
Seidu Abubakari aka Nba, who was initially rumoured to be the ringleader of the group, Abdul Nasir, Safianu Abubakari and Abdul Rahman Suleiman aka Wofa were on July 25, 2019 each granted a GH¢200,000 bail with two sureties each, one each to be justified by the court.
But they have not been able to meet the terms of the bail and were subsequently brought to court together with the other four accused persons by personnel of the BNI.
Sources had on the previous court sitting day told DAILY GUIDE that persons willing to stand sureties for Seidu Abubakar and one other accused person have presented documents to the registry of the court.
According to sources, the court had begun taking steps to confirm the authenticity of the documents and the values of the properties being used as justification for the bail.
It is, however, not clear whether the sureties could not meet the bail terms as set by the court, which is why the accused persons are still in detention.
At yesterday’s proceedings, the court presided over by a vacation judge, Justice Ekow Baiden, adjourned the matter to September 19, 2019 since the case was only scheduled for mention until the end of the legal vacation for the substantive judge to resume sitting on the matter.
Arrest/Trial
An all-Ghanaian security operation led by the National Security on June 12 rescued the two Canadian ladies who were abducted from the gates of their hostel in a Kumasi suburb last month.
They were said to have kidnapped their victims and kept them in an uncompleted building on the outskirts of town and demanded a ransom of $800,000.
The two ladies had boarded an Uber to their hostel at Nhyiayeso behind the Vienna Hotel but were accosted by the accused persons when they arrived at their destination and alighted from the car.
They are Sampson Aghalor aka Romeo, Elvis Ojiyorwe, Jeff Omarsar, Yusif Yakubu, Abdul Nasir, Seidu Abubakar aka Mba, Safianu Abubakari and Abdul Rahman Suleman aka Wofa.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak