The suspect
The Western Regional Police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly being in possession of a fresh human head of a 12-year-old Class Six pupil of Grace International School at Bogoso in the region.
The suspect, Alex Tetteh, purportedly cut off the head of the pupil, whose name was given as Ebenezer Tetteh, for ritual purposes, apparently to enable him become rich overnight.
According to reports, the suspect might have lured the innocent little boy with some cash and managed to grab him.
He sent him to a nearby bush and chopped off the head with the help of some suspected accomplices.
After committing the alleged crime, Alex Tetteh traveled to Sankro, a village near Dixcove, where he was arrested by the residents when he was searching for a potential buyer of the severed head.
The people of Sankro handed him over to the police at Dixcove, who subsequently conveyed the suspect to the Agona Nkwanta District Police Command – all in the Ahanta West District of the region – Tuesday evening.
Confirming the story, the Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, told DAILY GUIDE that the suspect had attempted to sell the human head to a spiritualist at Sankro at about 5:15 pm on Tuesday, February 6, 2018.
According to her, the spiritualist became suspicious and raised an alarm, and with the help of other residents, the suspect was arrested and handed over to the police.
The PRO indicated that during an interrogation, Alex Tetteh claimed he committed the crime with the help of two other accomplices – who are currently at large.
The suspect has since been transferred to the Regional Police Command at Sekondi, pending further investigations.
The severed head, concealed in a black polythene bag, has also been sent to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi for preservation.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that when the story broke at about 6:00 pm on Tuesday, the majority of the residents of the mining town of Bogoso, who became dumfounded, rushed to the police station to catch a glimpse of the alleged murderer.
Most of the people therefore suggested that the suspect should also be killed in the same manner when found guilty of the offence.
According to some of the classmates of Ebenezer Tetteh, he was seen in the school Tuesday morning but after some students had been sacked for non-payment of school fees, they thought he might have left for the house.
Father’s Narration
Speaking to journalists, the father of the victim, Peter Tetteh, a farmer, indicated that his son, who was the first among four children, had paid his fees in full.
According to the father, he sent the son to school in the morning and that normally the son would get to the house at about 3:00 pm every day.
“But on that fateful day, at about 6:00 pm, Ebenezer was still not at home, so I caused radio announcements to be made but to no avail,” he stated.
Mr Tetteh continued, “Later, I had a call to go to the police station to have a look at the severed head and see if that was my son. Before going, I saw the pictures on social media and noted that that was my son.”
When asked whether the suspect was his relative since they all bear the surname ‘Tetteh,’ he answered in the negative.
He indicated that the mother of the boy, Doris Tetteh, had been wailing since then.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi