A military officer based in the Volta regional capital, Ho, has been arrested and put before an Accra High Court for aiding members of the Homeland Study Group, which is calling for the secession of the Volta Region from Ghana.
Sergeant Kpogli Samuel Kwabla is alleged to have leaked information to members of the group, who were holding a meeting to allegedly plan to declare independence on May 5, 2019 and hide their weapons due to an imminent search by a joint police and military team.
Eight members of the group were initially arrested by a combined military and police team on Sunday evening in Ho where they were said to be holding a secret meeting.
They were flown to Accra and later put before an Accra High Court on the charge of treason.
Other charges included abetment of unlawful assembly and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace.
Seven of them were remanded in custody while founder and leader of the group, an 85-year-old retired educationist, Charles Kormi Kudjordji, was granted bail in the sum of GH¢250,000 with two sureties, one to be justified.
Sergeant Kwabla was on Wednesday hauled before the court presided over by three judges on the charge of abetment.
He pleaded not guilty and was remanded alongside seven others while Mr. Kudjordji was ordered to remain on his old bail terms pending the trial.
Apart from Mr. Kudjordji and the soldier, the other accused persons are Bisa Akorli, 54; Kofi Dzreke, 39; Thompson Tsigbe, 58; Benjamin Agbadzada, 48; Agbenyega Akudzi, 54; Freemen Blikaku, 36; and Nkpe Tsryiri Kudzo, 61.
Over the years, the group has championed the secession of the Volta Region from Ghana to form what it calls Western Togoland.
The group claimed the continuous stay of the Volta Region under Ghana is illegal.
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