Members of a so-called secessionist group claiming to fight for a state called ‘Western Togoland’ in the Volta Region have been charged with treason felony by prosecutors.
The accused persons who have been divided into two groups of 27 and 51 are also facing multiple counts of conspiracy to commit treason felony, rioting with weapons, stealing, causing unlawful damage and participating in the meeting of a prohibited group.
The first group of 27 are accused, among other things, of preparing to carry out an unlawful means and enterprise to usurp the executive powers of the country.
They are also accused of attacking the Aveyime and Mepe Police stations in the Volta Region on September 25, overpowering the officers on duty and stealing 10 AK47 assault rifles and a police patrol vehicle.
The accused are said to have also vandalized properties of the police stations, including a private vehicle, computers and office furniture, worth about GH¢50,000.
The activities of the accused persons and their accomplices brought the area and its environs to a standstill as they sporadically shot into the air as they left the police station in the police patrol vehicle.
Notable among the accused persons is a traditional ruler, Nene Kwaku Agblorm II.
Lawyers Angry
The charges and facts of the case were not read to the accused persons in court and this outraged the defence lawyers who expressed their resentments.
The various lawyers used the opportunity to ask the court to grant the accused persons bail as they would not hamper investigations.
The lawyers also complained about the welfare of their clients in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), claiming that their clients had not been fed well while others had had serious health issues from being denied to take their medication.
Opposition
The prosecution, led by ASP Sylvester Asare, opposed the applications for bail, stating that the court did not have the jurisdiction to grant bail due to the amended charges.
He said the prosecution had complied with the court’s order to allow the lawyers to have access to the accused persons.
He added that the police had been taking some of the accused persons who sustained gunshot wounds to the hospital.
Remand
The court, presided over by Rosemary BaahTorsu, refused them bail on the ground that the court did not have the jurisdiction to do so due to the charges preferred against them.
She remanded the accused persons to reappear on November 9, 2020.
Second Group
Meanwhile, the second group of 57 accused persons was also remanded by the court.
The accused persons were initially discharged as the prosecution took steps to consolidate the charges which were before different courts.
The 57 are before the court for their alleged involvement in the riots that blocked vehicular movement on busy highways close to Juapong on the Accra-Ho highway as well as on the Accra Aflao highway.
They will reappear on November 4, 2020.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak