The court says the decision is to give ample time to the police to conduct their investigation into the matter.
The three accused persons including the third suspect who is alleged to have been hired by the Tufuhene Nana Clark and another accomplice Michael Darko to dig the hole that was used in burying the victim appeared before the court today.
The charge against the three still remains conspiracy to wit murder and murder, contrary to section 46 of the Criminal and other Offences Act 1980, Act 29.
They have been remanded into police custody to reappear on October 18, 2022.
The family of 22-year-old Georgina Asor Botchwey have held a burial ceremony for the deceased at Yeji in the Bono East Region of Ghana.
Georgina was murdered in a ritual killing incident at Mankessim in the Central Region.
On Thursday, September 29, 2022, her family held a burial ceremony to put the deceased to final rest.
Her burial comes after police exhumed her body from the residence of a local chief at Mankessim.
Videos of the burial ceremony sighted by GhanaWeb show a mood of heavy grieving as the family and loved ones of Asor Botchwey put her to rest.
Two suspects, Michael Darko and Christopher Ekow Clarke, who were arrested for killing the 25-year-old aspiring nurse have confessed to killing another victim.
According to reports, Michael Darko is a self-styled pastor while Christopher Ekow Clark is said to be a local chief.
The two were arrested after Georgina Asor Botchwey, who had gone for an admission interview at the Ankarful Nursing Training School, had gone missing for weeks.
Michael Darko, according to reports, was the fiancé of Georgina’s sister and had requested to meet her in Mankessim after her interview.
Meanwhile, the police say the suspects have confirmed killing a second victim whose identity has been established while leads on a possible third victim are being followed.
Hundreds of people on Thursday gathered in front of the house of Christopher Ekow Quansah, the Tufuhen of Mankessim, to catch a glimpse of him and self-styled pastor Michael Darko, who allegedly murdered one Ms. Georgina Asor Botchwey.
A police team had led the two accused persons, who allegedly confessed to the killing of three more people, to the house of the Tufohen, located just after the Pacific Fuel Station, near the Mankessim Lorry Station for further investigations.
The crowd hooted at them amid name calling and casting of aspersions as drivers in traffic temporarily stopped over to watch the two, who have notoriously become famous.
A source told the GNA that the two accused persons had confessed to killing three other people, a male and two females and led the police team on Thursday afternoon, to the various locations.
The witness said the accused persons first took the team to the house of the Tufohen at Mankessim and Akwakrom near Mankessim, where they carried out their criminal activities.
The police thoroughly searched the rooms and took vital document and information for further investigation.
Again, in Mankessim, the two took the police team to a location where a male teacher was allegedly invited by them and was shot and killed instantly and his toes cut.
The police were also taken to a location in the Ekumfi District where they allegedly shot and killed a female trader and buried her under a bridge in the Ekumfi District.
The team also visited a location at Batanya in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamakese District, where they allegedly killed a young lady from Kumasi.
Apparently, the two pretended to be travel agents and prepared a traveling document for her to travel to Holland.
The two allegedly told the police that they met the lady at Batanyaa on the Cape Coast-Assin Fosu Highway and killed her.
The family of the deceased, who were at the mortuary in Cape Coast on Thursday afternoon, identified the body of their relative.
Meanwhile, a crack team of police personnel from the Central Regional Command were also led by the accused persons to arrest a 26-year-old mason in Mankessim, in connection with the alleged murder.
Sources, who did not want to be identified, told the Ghana News Agency that they saw the third suspect being whisked away and identified him as one Abbey, the in-law of Quansah.
According to the sources, Quansah, confessed to have hired the husband of one Esi Akyere to dig the pit in his houses at Mankessim.
Following the revelation, the police swiftly moved to the community and with the backing of the chiefs arrested Abbey, who initially denied the act but later admitted to digging the pit for GH¢50.
According to Abbey, who is also one of the leaders of the Youth Volunteer Group in the community, the Tufohen paid him the agreed amount in instalments of GH¢20 and GH¢30 respectively after the work.
Baffled by the revelation of the suspect, the sources said, the chiefs assembled all the members of the Youth Volunteer Group and impressed on them to confess if they were complicit in the murder case, but they all denied any knowledge of it.
The sources also said police personnel had been stationed at the deserted family house of the Tufohen where two dugout holes were found in two obscure and dirty separate rooms while it had also intensified patrols.
Earlier, Nana Akwa III, the Chief of Akwakrom, at a press conference, called for the arrest and inquiry into the activities of a fetish priest in the community and one Mr. Kwesi Gyan, the Abiradze Ebusuapayin of the Tufohen who could not be tracked since the news broke out.
“We are appealing to the police to interrogate his fetish priest in the community who the Tufohen liked so much and took cover prior to his arrest,” Nana Akwa pleaded.
Nana Akwa, who is also a legal practitioner, wondered how the Tufohen dug the craters containing numerous bottles and dead materials without the knowledge of the Ebusuapanyin.
“Since the arrest of the Tufohen, all attempts to reach his Ebusuapanyin, who was always in the community, has not been successful. There is no way anyone can dig out two pits in two separate rooms in a family house without the knowledge of the Ebusuapanyin. This is incomprehensible.
“More so, prior to the arrest of the Tufohen, his Ebusuapanyin was billed to meet the Chief and elders on some teething community issues, but he cannot be found. And why is he not answering our calls,” the Chief revealed.
Personnel from the Central Regional Police Command have arrested a third person in connection with the murder of Ms. Georgina Asor Botchwey, according to a Ghana News Agency report.
The suspect, 26-year-old mason, who was identified as Abbey, is said to have been contracted by one of the accused persons to dig the pit in which the victim was hurriedly buried.
Abbey is said to be an in-law of ‘contractor’ Christopher Ekow Quansah, (Nana Clarke) the Tufuhen of Mankessim, who is facing charges of murder along with self-styled pastor, Michael Darko (Sofo Kofi).
The GNA report said Quansah, confessed to have hired the husband of one Esi Akyere to dig the pit in his houses at Mankessim.
Police with the support of the chiefs arrested Abbey who happens to be a member
of the community youth volunteer group. He confessed receiving GH¢50in two installments after earlier denying that he had been contracted.
Abbey said the Tufohen paid him a first instalments of ¢20 and ¢30 after he had completed the task.
Baffled by the revelation of the suspect, the sources said, the chiefs assembled all the members of the Youth Volunteer Group and impressed on them to confess if they were complicit in the murder case, but they all denied any knowledge of it, the GNA report added.
Meanwhile, family of the victim were a the Cape Coast Regional Hospital mortuary where they identified the body of Ms. Botchwey.
The Ghana News Agency, reported the name of the suspect as one Abbey, he is said to be the husband to the niece of one of the suspects, Nana Clarke. The Modern Ghana news portal gave his name as Kobbie.
According to reports, he was hired to dig the hole in which the deceased was buried at Nana Clarke’s residence in Mankessim.
He becomes the third suspect to be picked in connection with the murder, the two others being Nana Clarke (real name Christopher Ekow Quansah) and Pastor Michael Darko Amponsah (Sofo Kofi).
The two are facing charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder and murder, contrary to Section 46 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1980, Act 29.
A Cape Coast District court presided over Her Lordship Bernice Mensima Ackon remanded them on their last appearance on September 2.
The court agreed to the request of prosecution – led by DSP Daniel Gadzo – for more time to conclude investigations. The case was adjourned to October 4, 2022.
There are emerging details of how two men gruesomely murdered a 25-year-old lady at Mankessim in the Central Region of Ghana.
The body of Georgina Asor Botchwey was exhumed from the house of the Tufuhene of Akwakrom, Nana Onyaa Clark, who is now facing murder charges together with a fiancé of the deceased’s sister, Michael Darko.
Darko, who resides in Kumasi, is said to have requested to meet up with Georgina when she travelled from Yeji to attend an admission interview at the Ankarful Nursing Training School.
After Georgina concluded her interview, she was picked up by Darko in the company of Nana Clark in a taxicab on September 9, 2022.
They subsequently drove to where the chief had parked his Mercedes Benz with registration number GT 8686 C.
The two then sent their victim to Nana Clark’s apartment at Akwakrom, where they took away her phone and locked her up in a room.
They later went to Sikafoambantem, another suburb of Mankessim, where the chief had another building and dug a hole in the uncompleted building.
They then came back and picked up their victim from Akwakrom Sikafoambantem. Nana Clark is then said to have hit the young lady with a club while Darko held her neck until she died.
They then buried her in the hole they had dug after shaving her.
This new report reveals how the suspects who have confessed to killing the victim for ritual purposes carried out their plan.
The suspects who have been remanded into custody are to reappear on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, to wit murder and murder contrary to section 46 of the Criminal and Offences Acts 1980, Act 29.
The Police Service has denied reports that the Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom, Nana Clark Onyaa, who is being held in police custody in connection with the murder of a 25-year-old aspiring nurse, Georgina Asor Botchwey, in Mankessim, is dead.
According to the Service, its outfit has sighted reports indicating that the accused person has passed away.
The police, in response to these reports, indicated in a Facebook post that the “chief and his accomplice, who were remanded into police custody by the court to reappear on October 4, 2022, are alive and in custody. We, therefore, urge the public to treat the report with the contempt it deserves. “
On Wednesday, September 21, at his hiding place in Akwa Krom in the Ekumfi District, Nana Clark Onyaa was apprehended and later detained by the Mankessim District Police Command.
This occurred after pastor Michael Darko, the alleged boyfriend of the deceased’s senior sister, was apprehended and later admitted to assisting the chief in the abduction, killing, and covert burying of the deceased.
The deceased resided in Yeji, in the Bono East Region. Per reports, she travelled to Cape Coast in the Central Region since she was an applicant seeking admission to the Ankaful Psychiatric Nursing School.
Upon arrival, she placed a call to Michael Darko, informing him about her presence in the area.
Chilling details of how she was murdered indicate that on September 9, the two suspects picked up the deceased in a taxi after her entrance interview and took her to Pedu intersection in Cape Coast.
The chief reportedly placed the deceased in his Benz and drove her to Akwaakrom, where he took her iPhone and locked her up in a room.
On September 10, 2022, Georgina Asor Botchwey’sbrother, Alfred Duodu, reported her missing after several failed attempts to reach her call number.
The complaint resulted in the arrest of Michael Darko, who confessed and thereafter led police officers to the site where the 25-year-old was buried.
Meanwhile, the deceased’s body has been placed in the morgue at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for preservation and autopsy.
The two suspects who admitted to committing the heinous act will appear in court again on October 4, 2022.
For over three weeks, the family of 25-year-old Georgina Asor Botchwey sat on edge following the disappearance of their daughter.
The last time they heard from Georgina, she had bid them farewell at Yeji in the Bono East Region, en route to attend an admission interview at the Ankarful Nursing Training School in the Central Region.
This was on September 7, 2022, and while concerns of her whereabouts and safety grew as the family frantically failed to reach her, an assurance came from her elder brother.
Alfred Duodu, her brother, gave his family assurances that Georgina – who comes after him, will be fine.
He assured them of his resolve to locate his sister and bring her back home safely.
In an interview with GhanaWeb, Alfred, who is a soldier with the Ghana Armed Forces, recounted his words of assurance to his mother over the disappearance of her daughter.
“Yes, I did assure her that whatever that it will take me, I will do to search for where my sister is,” he said.
He explained further to GhanaWeb’s George Ayisi that it became more than necessary to bring his professional expertise to bear in the search of his sister.
It was on the back of this that he made the vow to his mother, he added.
“In one of our conversations I was assuring her; I was giving her my support. So, I told her that this is the time that I will show that I am a soldier,” he added.
Alfred’s quest to find his sister began with the filing of a police report and using the media to seek the whereabouts of his missing sister.
“When I came and reported the case, they gave me a police report to do announcement, after the announcement I should come back,” he recounted.
Alfred however explained that all along, he had his suspicions. The subject of his suspicion was a fiancé of one of his sisters, who is a pastor.
Michael Amponsah alias Osofo Kofi, the would-be in-law of Alfred, resided at Mankessim in the Central Region, and was said to have requested to meet Georgina after she had concluded her interview.
As was later confirmed, Osofo Kofi indeed met up with Georgina at Mankessim after her interview.
“Looking at the whole case, I realised that the said Osofo from the initial stage, I didn’t trust him. So, from the initial stage, I thought that he has a hand in it but I couldn’t gather the confidence to tell the family that this man is behind it.
“I followed the sequence of what ensued – the whole issue. In my conclusion, I understood that he was the one behind the whole thing. So, I tried using my intelligence as to how to get him with the help of one police CID. We hunted for him, we laid ambush on him and by the grace of God, we were able to arrest him,” the soldier said.
While his hopes were still high, he got sorely disappointed when their investigations led to the exhumation of her dead body.
Her body was retrieved from the house of Nana Onyaa Clark, a local chief and an accomplice to Osofo Kofi.
Watching the nearly decomposed body of his sister being brought out of the ground, Alfred Duoduo recounted how disappointing it felt to have partially failed his quest to find her alive and return her home.
“I didn’t take that lightly; in fact, I couldn’t control myself when I saw my sister in that state. Because our whole prayer was that we find my sister alive,” he stated.
The effects of the discovery of his sister cumulated into a state of self-blame for Alfred whose ultimate mission was to bring Georgina to their mother alive.
“So at a point in time, I felt that I was late in rescuing her. If I had the opportunity, I would have done that earlier. But things didn’t go the way I expected. I felt disappointed that I allowed all those things to happen,” a distraught Alfred said.
He added that he has however taken solace in having been able to eventually locate because it saves his family the pain of living in the anxiety of never knowing her whereabouts.
“But anyway, that is destiny so we thank God and I am so accomplished that even though we were not able to get her alive, we’ve been able to see or locate her. At least, it will take that anxiety on the family away,” he added.
Aside that, Alfred is confident that justice will be served for Georgina’s rather painful death, through the prosecution of her murderers.
“From the look of things, everything is in order and I know for sure that we will get justice for her,” he stated.
Alfred yearned for nothing less than an opportunity for his sister to realise her dream of entering a nursing school.
His wish for his sister was the highlight of their final conversation which took place a few days before Georgina’s birthday.
“We have a good personal relationship. Especially I remember the day she was in a car coming for the interview, I spoke to her and I encouraged her. The day after the interview was her birthday; her birthday was on the 8th of September so I remember I called her, we spoke and I wish her well that when she returns, we will meet and talk more. But she went there and the unfortunate happened. Since then, I’ve been calling her line and it was switched off,” Alfred explained, while recalling what a close relationship he had with Georgina.
Earlier reports indicated that Osofo Kofi sold his fiancé’s sister to his accomplice for money rituals.
This was confirmed by Alfred who shared details of the confessions of the two suspects to the police.
“Their main aim was to use her for money rituals. That is their main, it was for money rituals and they have confirmed that” he noted.
Residents of Mankessim are yet to recover from shock after the news about the exhumation of the body of a trainee nurse broke out in the area.
One of the residents who was overwhelmed by the shock of the incident was the son of the prime suspect in the murder of Georgina Asor Botchwey, Nana Clark Onyaa.
According to the Assemblyman of the area, Alex Kojo Appiah, the son of Nana Clark, who was present when the deceased’s body was exhumed from inside his father’s building, collapsed out of shock and had to be given medical attention.
“When I came to find out that the body had been exhumed and taken to Cape Coast, I inquired of the whereabouts of his children. I was informed that the son fainted when the body was exhumed and had been rushed to the Roman Hospital for medical attention,” the Assemblyman said.
Nana Clark, the Tufuhene of Ekumfi Akwakrom, was recently arrested at a hideout in Akwakrom in the Ekumfi District.
His arrest followed the confession of an accomplice in the kidnap, murder and secret burial of Georgina Asor Botchwey.
The second suspect in the case is Pastor Michael Darko Amponsah, popularly known as Osofo Kofi.
Osofo Kofi, according to reports, is the fiancé of the deceased’s elder sister.
The family of the prospective nurse trainee who was kidnapped, killed, and secretly buried in Mankessim has made a shocking revelation about the prime suspect.
Georgina Asor Botchwey’s relatives revealed that the pastor is known by the family since he is the boyfriend of the deceased’s sister.
According to the family, the 22-year-old’s sister had informed her boyfriend that her sister was at Ankaful Nursing Training College for an interview.
JoyNews’ correspondent, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko reports that the pastor then called Miss Asor Botchewy and asked to meet her.
So after her interview, the victim set off to meet her soon‐to‐be brother‐in‐law.
Unbeknownst to the victim, the pastor had connived with the chief who is the Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom, Nana Crack, to kidnap and sexually assault her.
The two suspects then killed her and buried her in one of the chief’s apartments.
The news was widespread in the Central Region town that the deceased has gone missing for three weeks.
The notice circulating read, “Georgina Botchwey went for an interview at Cape Coast on Wednesday and up till now she cannot be found; her phone is off. Please, anybody with information about her should call 0208503126 or 0247048711.”
Following this notice, a friend of the deceased raised an alarm about Georgina meeting with her sister’s boyfriend.
The pastor was arrested in Cape Coast and admitted to the crime.
He subsequently led the police to the residence where Georgina had been buried and her body was exhumed.
Meanwhile, the chief who fled after reports of the arrest of his accomplice has been arrested.
Police in Mankessim, in the Central Region, have detained a pastor after he admitted to aiding a local chief in the kidnapping, murder, and covert burial of a 25-year-old nurse trainee.
On Tuesday, September 20, the pastor and police detectives exhumed Georgina Asor Botchwey’s body from her room in the Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom, Nana Crack.
According to evidence acquired by the media, the pastor and the chief abducted the nurse after having sex with her.
The two are alleged to have killed her after the acts and buried her in one of the chief’s rooms.
After being detained at Cape Coast, the clergyman confessed to the crime. The victim’s body was then exhumed at the chief’s apartment, where he then led the police.
Residents have expressed their shock and outrage at the occurrence and asked the police to see that justice is done.
The Assemblyman of the area, Cephas Authur, pleaded with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to beef up security in Mankessim and the surrounding area adding that the bizarre incident is not the first murder case recorded in Mankessim.
“This is the fifth occurrence of this kind of incident this year. I’m requesting that the police take care of the Chief and Pastor,” he said.
The body of the victim has been placed in the mortuary at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for preservation and autopsy.
