Two men who are against the creation of the Oti Region have been arrested in the Volta Region for trying to work black magic on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu and the President of Ghana and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The list which was found on the two men had the names of the Electoral Commissioner, Jean Adukwei Mensah, the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yaw Letsa, Mr Justice Brobbey, Chairman for the Commission of Enquiry on creation of the new regions; the Minister for Regional Reorganization, Mr. Dan Botwe; and Dr. Obed Asamoah also on the list.
The suspects, Ebenezer Atsu, 33 and Shepherd Acolatse, 55 added the name of the Asantehene to the list because they believe he supports the creation of the Oti Region.
The suspects who are from Ashaiman said the list was given to them by a man called John who also lives at Ashaiman. They were arrested after the traditional priest, Festus Kwashie Babanawo reported them to the police because he cannot hurt top officials in the country.
DCOP Duku told journalists at a press conference on Thursday, 6 December 2018 that: “Our meeting here this afternoon is basically about the threats that we are receiving from the impending referendum.
“If you recall, at the launch of ‘Operation Clam Life’, I did indicate that we are receiving threats from people who are against the creation of the Oti Region and the threats are coming in physical and spiritual forms.”
“Just yesterday [Wednesday, 5 December 2018] at about 12 o’clock in the afternoon, the police in Dzodze had information that some two young men from Ashaiman had approached a herbalist with some names of prominent people including the president of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr Yao Letsa Archibald, the Volta Regional Minister; Mr Dan Botwe, the Minister of Regional Reorganisation; Mrs Jean Adokwei Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission; Dr Obed Yao Asamoah, a prominent politician and also a citizen from one of the areas that has been earmarked for the new region, and we have Justice Brobbey who chaired the Commission that was to seek the opinion of people who intend to have a region for themselves, and then finally we have Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also on the list.”
“The purpose of these two young men approaching the shrine is to cast a spell on those that I have mentioned in order that they will call for the cancellation of the referendum in the Oti Region.”
“Now you’d recall that I keep saying that they are up to all manner of things and we, on our part as the security body responsible for the maintenance of internal security, will do everything within our power to ensure that the referendum is held devoid of any security threats or manifestations.”
“Now, the people we are talking about are Ebenezer Atsu, 32 years; and Shepherd Acolatse, 55 years, who both hail from Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region. The name of the fetish priest is Festus Kwashie Babanao.”
“Upon interrogation, it turned out that the two were sent by their collaborators outside the region. For security reasons, it will be too early for us to give you the names of their collaborators but we are following up on the information that they have provided to us and we’ll want to believe that in the next few days, we’ll call you to give you an update on how far we’ve gone with the investigations.”
“But they [suspects] keep saying that they set out to do what they went to do on their own. Now listening to the herbalist, it turned out that when he got the information about their purpose of being at the shrine, he quickly called the police, because, according to him, he is not interested. He is not somebody who undermines the security of the state. And, so, we’re most grateful that he’s done this.”
“We want to extend this invitation to other spiritualists who may be approached with issues regarding the threat of the security of the state or the security of individuals or organisations to desist from such engagements.”
“We have been reliably informed through our intelligence that the Western Togoland group is solidly behind this move. We want to sound a caution to them that if they think they have a case, they should go through the normal process but not to interfere in the impending referendum.”
“If they do, we’ll crush them. We’ll not sit down for anybody to take the law into their own hands. They have started their course, the process is there, they know which processes to go through. They must pursue those processes. If they extend their activities towards impeding the referendum, we will not allow that to happen. As we speak, the Minister of Regional Reorganisation, the Regional Minister and other stakeholders are having a meeting in Worawora to shape up the impending referendum. Their security is assured”, the police commander said.
by: Nana Asabere
