The prosecution in the trial of the four (4) persons who allegedly kidnapped two Canadian ladies in Kumasi has tendered a WhatsApp conversation in which the alleged ringleader was demanding for $800,000 as ransom.
Sampson Aghalor, the ‘self-confessed’ leader of the group, in a WhatsApp chat with Derrick Chitty, father of one of the victims, demanded $800,000 as ransom before the ladies are released.
The chat forms part of documents Canadian authorities forwarded to the Ghana Police Service as parts of investigations into the matter.
Detective Corporal Augustine Dery, who tendered the WhatsApp messages, told the court that they also sent a request to Canada for the statements of the victims to be obtained.
“The statements of the victims and some members of the victims’ family together with some WhatsApp messages were sent to us by the Canadian authorities. The WhatsApp message was retrieved from Derrick Chitty, the father of Bailey Chitty and my Lord, the message was made by A1 (Sampson Aghalor) making a demand of a ransom of $800,000,” he told the court.
Sampson Aghalor aka Romeo, Elvis Ojiyorwe, and Jeff Omarsa who are all Nigerians and their Ghanaian counterpart, Yussif Yakubu, are before the court on charges of conspiracy and kidnapping.
The prosecution’s 11th witness in his evidence-in-chief, told the court that one of the victims, Lauren Tilley, as part of investigations was able to identify Elvis Ojiyorwe as their captor.
Asked by the prosecutor, Winifred Sarpong, a Principal State Attorney how the identification was made, Detective Corporal Dery told the court that the pictures of the accused persons and other suspects arrested were mixed with pictures of similar black men by the Canadian authorities “and out of the lot, one of the victims was able to identify A2 (Elvis Ojiyorwe) as their captor.”
Investigations
The witness also told the court about the nature of their investigations after the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) now National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) handed over the accused persons together with some exhibits to the police.
He said “after the BNI handed the accused persons and the others arrested alongside the accused, we took all of them back to Kumasi to conduct further investigations. My Lord, we visited all the crime scenes. We visited the location at Nhyiaeso where the two Canadian girls were abducted and bundled into the Toyota Corolla aforementioned. We also visited the uncompleted house in Amunamu where Elvis Orjiyowe and Jeff Omarsa had held captive of the two Canadian girls. My Lord, we went to St. Patrick Hotel where Sampson Aghalor had lodged.”
Ballistic Examination
Detective Corporal Dery also told the court about a ballistic examination conducted on the weapons and other items obtained from the accused persons when they were arrested.
“When the BNI handed over the Toyota Corolla to us we noticed that there was a hole inside the roof of the car which had been sealed, so we suspected that it was a bullet hole so we handed over the car to the ballistic experts for examination. We also handed over the three (3) pistols as indicated earlier and the 52 rounds of live ammunitions and the six spent shells to the ballistic experts for examinations,” he added.
He continued that “the ballistic experts after examining the Toyota Corolla, the three pistols, the 52 live ammunitions and the six spent shells issued a report. The report stated among other things that they have found the hole in the vehicle that had been sealed and mentioned that the hole came from the two pistols retrieved from Elvis Orjiyowe and Jeff Omarsa. The ballistic experts also found a spent shell in the car which he indicated that it came from the two pistols of Elvis Orjiyowe and Jeff Omarsa.”
The court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo adjourned the case to July 21 for continuation.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak