The police have made a breakthrough in their investigations in the trial of some members of a so-called secessionist group claiming to fight for a state called ‘Western Togoland’ in the Volta Region.
It follows the identification of Isaac Afeku and Richard Adri as two of the persons who set two STC buses ablaze in the regional capital, Ho, in September after the drivers refused to hand over the ignition keys of the vehicles to them.
A group of 51 people are also before an Accra circuit court for their alleged involvement in riots that blocked vehicular movement on busy highways close to Juapong on the Accra-Ho highway as well as the Accra-Aflao highway.
21 Suspects
But 21 of them were yesterday discharged by the court presided over by Rosemary Baah Torsu after the prosecution requested without offering any explanation.
The remaining 29 are facing six counts of conspiracy to commit crime, treason felony, rioting with weapons, causing unlawful damage and participating in a meeting of a prohibited group.
Key Suspects
The accused persons included a community leader, Nene Kwaku Aglorm II who together with Felix Sosa and Lawrence Nyadzinor, have been identified as members of the national executive committee of the group.
The police have also identified Charles Kormi Kudzordzi, aka Papavi, as the leader of the group who has illegally trained the youth— numbering over 200.
He has allegedly encouraged the youth to take up arms to fight for their so-called struggle.
One of the suspects, Ernest Kpevu, has also been identified as a financier of the illegal group although he denied the allegation of being charged to provide firearms to the group.
Remand
The prosecution led by ASP Sylvester Appiah yesterday urged the court to remand the accused persons as they got closer to concluding their investigations.
The defence lawyers once again pleaded with the court to grant the accused persons bail pending the trial, but the court denied the application and remanded the accused persons to reappear on November 17.
Brief Facts
Per the brief facts of the case, the suspects are members of a prohibited organisation namely Western Togoland Foundation and related organisations.
It said the group had its strong hold in the Volta Region and had pockets of followers across towns namely, Osuwem, Juapong, Volo, Mamfe, Bator, Mepe, Aveyime, Ho and many others.
It has been moving its unlawful training grounds from one town to the other to outwit the security operatives.
The leadership of the group, in recent times, has been holding series of illegal meetings at Afife, Mepe, Juapong, Nyatikpo, Aveyime and other towns in the Volta Region with their agenda.
According to the police, Divine Sedsoh, an active member of the group, “was assigned the role of education, to organise more followers from the northern stretch of their targeted territory, particularly ewes.”
It stated that Ernest Kpevu “claimed he denied the responsibility to supply firearms to the group but had been making financial donations to enhance their illegal activities.”
Sometime in September 2020, a collective decision was made by executive and members of Western Togoland at Afife to organise a riot and block the two major roads at Juapong and also attack drivers at the State Transport Corporation terminal in Ho and rob them of their buses.
The facts state that on September 25, the accused persons wearing branded Western Togoland T-shirts and wielding offensive weapons such as guns and cutlasses blocked the Juapong-Akuse road at Abotoase Junction and the Juapong-Accra road at Akrade, causing vehicular traffic with road users stranded.
It also stated that the accused persons together with others at large, exchanged gunshots with the military when they arrived on the scene, but were eventually overpowered and arrested while others managed to escape.
It also added that Isaac Kwesi Afeku and Richard Adri in the company of three, now at large, went to the STC terminal in Ho and demanded the keys to the buses and ended up burning two of the buses when they were denied the keys.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak