Samuel Udoetuk Wills
The main suspect in the kidnapping of the three girls in Takoradi (now deceased) has been caught up in an entirely different criminal activity — human trafficking.
The Nigerian, Samuel Udeotuk Wills, 28, is currently serving a prison term for escaping from lawful police custody after the girls went missing, but it is emerging that he is also involved in another human trafficking case.
The accused person and some five others have been charged with trafficking a woman from rural Accra to Tema and offering her to different men for commercial sex.
The accused persons are alleged to have held their victim hostage for eight months and gave her to men for sex, and collected proceeds from the illegal enterprise.
The woman was said to have resisted the act on many occasions but Samuel Udeotuk repeatedly raped her as punishment for her resistance.
The victim, according to the police, was subjected to inhumane treatment, including the insertion of an artificial penis into her vagina.
Eventually, the victim became pregnant and has since given birth to twins.
Suspects
Apart from Samuel Udeotuk, the other five accused person are Robert Nana Kwame Hayford, aka Fire; Nii Oblitey Commey, aka Awudome; Clara Eksi, Chief Belo and Budu.
They are each facing a count of conspiracy and human trafficking.
Robert Nana Kwame Hayford and Nii Oblitey Commey were yesterday hauled before an Accra High Court and the charges as well as the facts read to them.
Their plea was not taken as the case is still under investigations.
The other accused persons, Clara Eksi, Chief Belo and Budu are still on the run, while Samuel Udeotuk, who is in prison, was not brought to court.
Remand Request
The prosecution led by Lily Atutiga, an assistant state attorney, told the court that investigations were ongoing and pleaded with the court to remand the accused persons in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for further investigations.
She said, “The set of facts here leads us to a conclusion that this is wider than we think as a nation. We believe that the accused persons being remanded at BNI will greatly facilitate investigations.”
Judge Furious
The court presided over by Justice George Buadi expressed displeasure when it came to his attention that the accused persons were arrested as far back as October 11, and yesterday was the first time they were being put before the court as against the constitutional provision of 48 hours.
The judge had said he was minded not to remand the accused in the custody of the BNI because of how they were treated but upon inquiring from the accused, they said they preferred BNI custody to prison custody.
They were subsequently remanded in the custody of the BNI to reappear on November 5.
Facts
According to the facts, Clara Ekis on July 2016 successfully lured the victim (name withheld) and took her to Tema Community 5 where Budu drove them and two other ladies to the residence of Chief Belo where they stayed for over eight months.
The prosecution said Chief Belo exploited the complainant by offering her to different men for sex- for-cash.
It stated that Samuel Udeotuk raped the complainant as punishment any time she refused to have sex with the clients of Chief Belo.
After some time, with offers of sex, the victim gained the trust of Budu and as a result of this relationship the complainant was being sent to the market with Budu and on one occasion succeeded in escaping from the place.
She reported the matter to the police and was sent to the police hospital for medical examination. The examination revealed, among other things, that she was two months pregnant.
She has since given birth to twins.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak