This morning my attention was drawn by a weird news item: reportedly, a video was circulating on social media in Ghana showing some men killing people for rituals at a hideout purported to be in or around the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua. True or untrue? Too often I find the reality hard to believe and am skeptical about the (alleged) facts and rumors. Justified or not justified?
According to the official website of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Eastern Region (19,323 square kilometres or 8.1% of the total land area of Ghana) is the sixth largest region of this West African country and with a population of 2.6 million people it houses 11% of Ghana’s population, making it the third most populous region, after the Ashanti and Greater Accra. The Ghana Tourism Authority tells us that the Eastern Region of Ghana is a rich blend of dramatic landscape, historical relics and traditional cultures.
This is exactly what the article presented below is all about, traditional culture. The content of the alleged video has been linked to the just ended burial rites of the late Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boateng and the Queen Mother, Nana Yaa Daani II. The linkage of the video to the funeral results from a directive issued on the night of May 16 by the New Juaben Traditional Council for residents to stay indoors.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Acheampong qualified the reported link between the video and the just ended burial rites as false and advised residents to treat these reports with contempt. He clarified that the announcement by the New Juaben Traditional Council was in line with customs and traditions, and to pay respect to the late Omanhene of the area.
We must take the Eastern Regional Security Council’s statement serious. However, it is important to note that the public is quick with associating traditional events such as burial rites with ritualistic practices including human sacrifices. The fact that these associations are the result of imagination and traditional beliefs is telling.
Screenshot from tv reporting on the alleged ritual murder in the Eastern Region – to view click here Warning: some readers may find this story disturbing
Eastern Regional Security Council disclaims video on alleged ritual murder
Eastern Regional Minister Seth Kwame Acheampong
Published: May 20, 2022 By: My Joy Online, Ghana
The Eastern Regional Security Council has refuted claims that the alleged ritual murder, captured on a video circulating on social media, occurred in the region.
According to the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Acheampong, the assertions are false and must be treated with contempt.
In a statement signed by Mr. Acheampong, he noted that the entire report and video do not reflect the truth.
“The entire report and video with an unknown source being circulated on the social media purported to have happened in Koforidua in the Eastern Region is totally false and must be treated with the contempt that it deserves,” the statement emphasised.
A copy of the statement from the Eastern Regional Minister
A video circulating on social media shows some men killing people for rituals at a hideout purported to be in or around the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua.
The content of the video has also been linked to the just ended burial rites of the late Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boateng and the Queen Mother, Nana Yaa Daani II.
Shot from the alleged ritual murder video
The linkage of the video to the funeral, results from a directive issued on the night of May 16, by the New Juaben Traditional Council for residents to stay indoors.
But the statement from the Eastern Regional Minister, clarified that the announcement was in line with customs and traditions; and to pay respect to the late Omanhene of the area.
The Regional Minister further explained that adequate security personnel were deployed at the funeral grounds, in and around Koforidua during the funeral rites, and that such an incident could not have happened.
He noted that the region is peaceful and safe. He further assured residents that “security agencies shall continue to work hard to ensure safety, peace and security in the region”.
Two fetish priests in the Eastern Region (Volta Region) have been apprehended and are suspected to be ritual killers. The article below is a follow-up on my posting of May 4.
Allegedly, a link exists with Togo, where the two men are hailing from. On this site I have presented several cases of ritual murders committed in Ghana. Ritual murder cases are seldom reported from Togo. This does not mean that in this country ritual practices and murders are non-existent. I suspect that it is more a question of under-reporting. There is no reason to believe that ritual murders do not occur in francophone African countries.
Unfortunately, there exists a bias in my reports on ritual murder cases across the African continent. The case presented below is another reason to be more vigilant and more balanced in my reporting on this site (webmaster FVDK).
How Fetish Priests Killed Ex-Soldier And Buried Him Including Others
The scene where the bodies were exhumed
Published: May 4, 2020 By: Modern Ghana
Details are emerging about how a special police team raided a shrine in the Eastern Region and exhumed headless human remains from the place.
At least three bodies were found buried in shallow graves when the special team raided the shrine where body parts were also found scattered all over the place.
Two fetish priests, namely Christian Lawoe Gameli aka Power-One, 40, and Famous Adukonu aka Scorpion, 36, who were operating a shrine called ‘Power 1 Herbal & Spiritual Centre’ located at Adu Kwadwo and Kofi Nyarko villages near Maame Dede Junction on the Nsawam to Adeiso road in the Upper West Akyem District of the Eastern Region, were arrested and brought to Accra during the raid.
The taxi driver, who was arrested alongside both fetish priests last Thursday, had been named as Allotey, and they were being detained by the police for ritual murder, fraud and the production of fake currencies.
The arrest is coming at a time when there are swelling allegations of collaboration between fetish priests, some spiritualists and some fake pastors in the country.
Old Soldier
It is turning out that at least one of the victims is believed to be a retired soldier, and his disappearance triggered intense police investigation that led to the raid.
The suspects allegedly murdered the 64-year-old ex-soldier, Edward Quartey Papafio, from Accra, who reportedly went to the shrine two weeks ago to seek spiritual help from the priests.
The soldier’s phone led investigators to the shrine, according to police sources.
He was reported to have been duped by the suspects who told him to go and come back in some days.
The old soldier later informed his wife and son, who was also a serving soldier, about the incident before visiting the shrine on the second attempt.
Shooting Incident
DAILY GUIDE gathered that when he went back to the shrine to confront them, the suspects asked him to sit somewhere in the shrine and in the process they shot him, killing him instantly.
They then buried him at the back of the shrine in the dress that he was wearing.
The deceased’s wife who was not hearing from him started calling his mobile phone several times, but the calls didn’t go through.
Police Intervention
The deceased soldier’s son went to the community in search of his late father before reporting the matter to the police CID, who also deployed some investigators to the community to gather more facts.
Their Roots
The fetish priests, as gathered, hail from Togo and came to stay at Suhum, but moved to settle in the current village about five years ago.
They have reportedly built two shrines and a hotel at separate locations during their short stay in the area and are said to be feared by the people.
Modus Operandi
They usually run advertisement and talk shows on Starr TV, a private television station based in Koforidua, to lure their clients who want to turn millionaires overnight.
They are said to have used their so-called powers to ‘dupe’ many clients and normally charge not less than GH¢1,000 as ‘participating’ fees.
Serial Killing
Some residents have made wild claims that a lot of people who visited the shrine vanished afterwards whenever the clients tried to fight back after being felt duped by the fetish priests.
The suspects, after the heinous crimes, allegedly bury the victims in their dresses in a manhole at the back of the shrine, and others in the rituals room after removing their parts.
They further claimed that some kids have been reported missing in the community ever since the duo settled in the area.
Some even alleged that the suspects usually ‘camped’ their clients who threaten to expose them when they failed to perform what they promise to do for them.
Some of the victims reportedly managed to escape and filed complaints at the police station at Adeiso, but the suspects were never arrested and questioned.
Marching Suspects
The police upon arresting the suspects marched them to the spots where they suspected the remains had been buried, and the suspects allegedly pointed to those spots for the bodies to be exhumed.
At around 11:00am on Thursday, the police used an excavator to dig the graveyard and also pulled down the walls of the shrine before exhuming fresh human skulls and plenty of bones.
The exhumation exercise ended around 4pm.
There are wild rumours in the village that a certain Kwashie Zormelo (age unknown) from Kasoa may have also been murdered by the suspects.
DAILY GUIDE understands the CID will be addressing the media on the matter at 2pm today.
How two fetish priests murdered and buried a biochemist, others at their shrine
Published: May 4, 2020 By: MyJoyOnLine
Two traditional priests are in the custody of the police for allegedly killing a biochemist consultant and siphoning what is suspected to be his blood into a gallon.
The deceased Edward Quartey-Papafio, 64, had left his house on January 15, 2020, at about 3:30 am after receiving a phone call.
According to the Director-General of the CID, COP Isaac Yeboah, after police investigations, it was discovered that the deceased was last spotted in Adeisu, near Nsawam in the Eastern region.
The police intensified investigation, and on April 21, 2020, they arrested suspects Christian Gameli Lawerh alias Power, 36, and Famous Adorkunu alias Scorpion, 37.
Both fetish priests hail from the Volta region but reside at Maame Dede near Adeisu.
After a search was conducted at their residences, police retrieved two pump action guns, a single barrel gun, together with eleven packets of cartridges from Lawerh’s room.
On April 29, both suspects admitted having interacted with the missing person for some time, but he was later shot and killed on January 15, 2020, at their shrine.
The suspects reiterated that the deceased was buried at a particular spot within the shrine and led police to the scene. The area was secured for an exhumation order to be granted by the court.
On April 30, the police including pathologists and other forensic experts went to Maame Dede and executed the exhumation.
The pathologists retrieved the decomposed body from a grave.
A second decomposed body whose name the suspect Gameli gave as Kwesi Zomelo also from Kasoa was retrieved from a separate grave.
The team later exhumed human parts, hair attachments, bead (belonging to a woman, police suspect), and bones from a third grave within the same perimeter.
A decomposed human flesh with bones wrapped in a cloth buried among the bodies was also retrieved from another grave. The team in addition retrieved human skulls together with bones, suspected to be human, hidden under two ‘idols’ in the house.
Investigations have so far established that on December 2019, the two conspired to murder Edward Quartey-Papafio, according to police.
They are alleged to have lured the deceased to their shrine and succeeded in collecting cash amounting to 10,000 Ghana cedis from him with a promise to fortify the deceased spiritually to enable his company to flourish.
On January 15, they invited Quartey-Papafio to the shrine for what they claimed to be the final purification rites but in the process they shot, killed and buried his body.
Police say after committing the crime, Lawerh took possession of the deceased’s Itel and Nokia mobile phones and handed them to his third wife, together with a bunch of keys.
Police say the second suspect Adorkunu, has confessed that he shot and killed Mr. Quartey-Papafio.
He also confessed to killing Zomelo and one of his masons after the deceased demanded money owed him.
According to COP Isaac Ken Yeboah, the remains exhumed from the shrine have been deposited at the Police Hospital Mortuary awaiting DNA testing and identification.
The suspects have been remanded and are awaiting trial.
