The second suspected kidnapper of the three Takoradi girls, who was arrested in neighbouring Togo through a special operation by the Ghanaian police, failed to show up in court yesterday.
The suspect, John Oji, 29, a Nigerian, was hauled before a Sekondi high court on Wednesday, June 13, 2019, on the charges of conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping.
The Sekondi High Court, presided over by Justice Hannah Taylor, remanded the alleged mastermind until yesterday but he was nowhere to be found when the case was called.
Journalists present in court yesterday gathered that the suspect was assisting the police in investigations and was not readily available to appear before the judge while another source said the suspect is due in court on Friday, June 28.
It would be recalled that DAILY GUIDE first broke the news on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service had made a major breakthrough in the effort to rescue the three girls by arresting a prime suspect in Togo.
The news of the arrest of the prime suspect was a relief for many residents in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.
At the last court sitting, Adelaide Kobire Woode, who led a team from the Attorney General’s Department, told the court that John Oji’s name had been mentioned in connection with the kidnapping of three girls in Takoradi.
She pleaded with the court to remand the suspect to enable the police gather enough information for the trial and after the proceedings, the suspect was quickly whisked away in a Ford pickup vehicle by a team of gun-wielding police officers.
First Suspect
Samuel Udoetuk-Wills, who was first to be arrested in connection with the missing girls, had reportedly mentioned John Oji as the one who aided him to escape from police cells and that he (John) was the person who could show where the girls are.
Udoetuk-Wills gave the account while he was in police custody at the Takoradi Central Police Station.
Strangely, Samuel Wills escaped police custody the day John Oji came to Ghana ostensibly to help retrieve the three kidnapped girls.
According to sources, Udoetuk-Wills told the police that John conveyed the girls to Nigeria and that his arrest would lead to the rescue of the girls.
The 28-year-old Nigerian, Udoetuk-Wills, who has been accused of kidnapping the three girls in Sekondi/Takoradi was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment to run concurrently for escaping from lawful custody and causing damage to public property.
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