The Chief of Klagon, Nii Bortey Klan I, and six others, accused of causing the death of one Ibrahim Mohammed Abass over a parcel of land, have been admitted to bail by a Tema High Court.
Nii Bortey Klan I and five of the accused persons: Tahiru Mamudu; Haruna Yakubu; Latif Moro; Kwaku Anane, aka Kobo; and Richard Annang Kotey, have been admitted to bail in the sum of GHC100,000 with two sureties.
However, Hamidu Fuseini, aka Sankara, alleged to have kidnapped the deceased was admitted to bail in the sum of GHC200,000 with sureties to be justified.
They are facing a charge of conspiracy to murder and murder.
What started as a tussle over the ownership of the land at Klagon, according to the prosecutor, ended in the kidnapping of Mr Abass, who was tortured and eventually killed and dumped in the bush at Klagon.
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The Kaneshie District Court, presided by Ms Ama Adomako Kwakye, did not take their pleas and remanded them into custody.
Lawyers of the accused, however, applied for bail at a Tema High Court and they were granted.
Three others: Abdul Baasi Mohammed, aka Awudu Buju; Yahaya Mohammed, aka Olu; and Osmanu Ibrahim are reportedly on the run.
Prosecuting, Inspector Richard Amoah earlier told the court that Nii Klan engaged some of the accused persons as land guards, while Fuseini was his right-hand man.
Kotey was a movie actor and a confidant of Nii Klan.
Inspector Amoah said having been given the authority by Nii Klan to guard the lands at Klagon, the accused persons and those at large, sometime in 2020, were instructed by the chief to prevent Abass from developing portions of the land at the Ramsar Site.
Abass was previously a confidant and instrumental in the installation of the chief.
However, following a protracted dispute over the parcel of land, Abass defected to the rival faction in the general land litigation in the area.
Prosecution said Abass defied the directive not to develop the land in contention, resulting in a physical confrontation with the accused persons, who destroyed the basic structures Abass had constructed amidst threats on his life.
Additionally, Nii Klan initiated a civil action against Abass and one Gabriel Akotia.
The prosecution said the chief also conspired with Anane, Kotey, and Mohammed to kill Abass.
The three and their accomplices allegedly met in the house of Nii Klan in the morning of November 15, 2020, at Klagon to execute their plan.
Abass was later attacked by Fuseini and four others while on his motorbike to his private residence.
Abass was kidnapped amidst gunshots and put into Fuseini’s vehicle and driven to an unknown destination.
However, the son of Abass, who chanced upon the attack on his father, informed his mother and a report was made to the Klagon District Police Command.
Inspector Amoah said the District Commander then called Fuseini on his cell phone to produce Abass at the station, but he ignored him.
With the connivance of his accomplices, according to the prosecutor, Fuseini murdered Abass and dumped his body in a bush in Klagon.
The body of Abass was, subsequently, conveyed to the Police Hospital Mortuary where a post-mortem examination, performed by Dr Stephen Annan and Dr Osei Owusu-Afriyie, gave the preliminary cause of death as “Asphyxiation, strangulation and suspected homicide.”
Meanwhile, the prosecutor said investigations had revealed that after Abass was kidnapped, he was driven to Nii Klan’s house and later taken to the Klagon Ramsar Site where he was tortured to death.
He said there was evidence of phone conversation between Nii Klan and his accomplices prior to, during and after the crime.
The accused persons are expected to reappear before the Kaneshie District Court on April 26.