Today, July 6, 2016 is exactly two years since Ghanaians were greeted with the heartrending news that hip-life musician Castro and a lady friend, Janet Bandu, had both gone missing while cruising a jet-ski on the Volta Lake at Ada.
Castro had followed his friend Asamoah Gyan to Ada for holidays when he went missing in the river and a combined search team comprising the Ghana Navy, Marine Police, local fisherfolks and professional lifeguards could not find his body.
Till date, the two have not been found and the search team remains clueless as to the exact circumstances which led to their disappearance.
There were speculations that the two had drowned but no eyewitness account has confirmed that theory.
About a week after the incident, the police administration held a press conference in Accra to confirm that Aqua Safari Resort, the company which hired the jet ski to Castro, gave him the wrong type of life jacket that could not save his life if an accident occurred while on the water.
According to the police, the company should have given Castro a ‘Type A’ life jacket, which could have kept him floating in case he fell into the Lake, but they rather gave him a ‘Type C’ jacket meant for a cockpit and not for navigating deep waters like the Volta Lake.
Two years after that incident, no lesson seems to have been learnt as there are many merrymakers who still cruise the Volta Lake with the wrong type of life jackets or even no life jackets at all.
Two days after Castro and Janet went missing, Sammy Anim Addo, Manager and Spokesperson of the Black Stars captain, issued a signed statement on the issue on behalf of Asamoah and his brother Baffour.
NEWS-ONE reproduces the statement unedited:
On Sunday 6 July 2014, we were on holiday in the company of friends and a few acquaintances on the banks of the Volta River, shutting between Peace Holiday Resort and Aqua Safari Resort at Ada, when we noticed that our close friend and popular musician Castro (known in private life as Theophilus Tagoe) had gone missing on the Volta River together with as acquaintance, Miss Jane Bandu, who had apparently hitched a ride with Castro on a jet ski rented by Castro.
We have made and we continue to make every effort to find them. Several state institutions and officials have been involved in this search including the Marine Police, the Navy, the Tema Police Command, the Ada Police Command, Ada East District Assembly, local fishermen at Ada and some traditionalists.
The jet ski on which Castro and Miss Jane Bandu rode has been retrieved. However the two are yet to be found. We are keeping hopes alive that the two will eventually be found.
Our prayers and support lie firmly with Castro and Miss Jane Bandu and their families. We pray for strength and fortitude for all engaged in the search and we also call on anyone who has useful information to assist in this quest. God bless us all.
SIGNED
Sammy Anim Addo
Business Manager/Spokesperson for and on behalf of Asamoah Gyan and Baffour Gyan