A Sekondi High Court, presided over by Justice Hanna Taylor, today, Wednesday, June 12th, remanded John Oji, a second Nigerian suspect in the case of the three kidnapped Takoradi girls into police custody.
The suspect is to reappear before the court on 26th June.
The State Attorney, Adeliade Kobire Woode, who pleaded with the court to remand the suspect, said the 29-year old is needed by the police for further investigations before he can be prosecuted for the crime of conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping.
Suspect John Oji, who was brought to Takoradi on Tuesday night after his arrest in Togo, is the alleged accomplice to the the first Nigerian suspect, Sam Udoetuk Wills, who is currently serving 18 months in jail for cell-break.
Sam Udoetuk had mentioned John Oji as the one who hired a taxi to pick him up from the Takoradi Central Police when he escaped from custody.
The Police believe that John Oji could be connected to the kidnapping of the three Takoradi girls whose whereabouts has become a nightmare for the Police since August 2018.
The kidnapping
The anxious families have spent the last few months demanding urgency from the police, but officials have asked the families to remain steadfast as they continue investigations.
The girls, Ruth Quayson, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Priscilla Koranchie are believed to have been kidnapped between August 2018 and January 2019.
The main suspect in the kidnapping, Sam Udoetuk Wills, is currently before a court after he escaped from cells in December 2018 following his arrest.
Over the period, residents in the Takoradi Sekondi-metropolis have voiced concern over the pace of the investigations.
Some groups have held protests and also petitioned the President and the Sekondi Regional Coordinating Council over the case.
At a press conference held in April 2019, the Police CID boss said the police knew where the kidnapped girls were.
But on May 11, Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah made a U-turn on her claims.
“Sometimes in communicating something, the way you want to get it across, people may not understand it the way you want to say it,” she said.
The CID boss is also reported in a section of the media to have said that she made the remark to give hope to the families of the kidnapped girls.
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By: Theophilus Annim|citinewsroom.com|Ghana