BECE candidate, her fetish priest boyfriend in court for murder

An 18-year-old candidate for the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), Regina Dagba, and her boyfriend Daniel Etse Datsomor, a fetish priest aged 20, appeared before the district magistrate court at Kpetoe on Tuesday (June 21, 2023), facing charges of murder of an 'okada' rider.

Presiding over the case, Mr Christian Hevi-Affuflu heard that Dagba, residing in Tsotso near Kasoa in the Central Region, travelled to Akatsi where she enticed the rider to accompany her to her boyfriend in Nyatsive, located in the Republic of Togo, where he was subsequently killed.

Sergeant Ernest Nketia, who prosecuted, informed the court that Dagba made the cross-border trip on April 21, 2023. The prosecution identified the victim as Louis Agbogli, aged 28.

According to the prosecutor, the rider's concerned father, Lumor Agbogli, reported his son missing to the police at Akatsi a week after his absence. The police conducted an investigation and discovered that the deceased had transported Dagba to her boyfriend across the Ghana-Togo border a few days prior.

Based on this information, the authorities lured the young couple to Wute in Ghana and apprehended them. During the interrogation, Dagba, who was charged with aiding and abetting, stated that she arrived at her boyfriend's home late at night on the motorbike. However, she said she did not know whether the rider immediately returned to Akatsi or not.

Dagba further mentioned discovering the motorbike’s keys in her boyfriend's clothes while she was washing them, which puzzled her.

Meanwhile, the prosecution stated that Dagba's boyfriend, accused of murder, failed to provide an explanation to the police as to how the rider's keys were found in his clothes.

As a result, the Ghana and Togo police initiated a joint investigation into the case. When the fetish priest's mother was interrogated, her account was different from that of her son. Eventually, the fetish priest confessed to murdering the rider, disclosing that he committed the act in a thick forest located at a gravel pit between Kpetoe in Ghana and Nyatsive in Togo.

The collaborative efforts of the police from both countries led to the discovery of the victim's body, along with his clothes, sandals, and other belongings at the crime scene. The motorbike was also found nearby, as disclosed in court.

The prosecution added that certain parts of the deceased's body were missing, and that the body had been deposited at the morgue awaiting post-mortem and DNA examinations.

Dagba, who was visibly distraught in court wearing a pair of jeans and a blouse, wept uncontrollably during the proceedings, while Datsomor kept his head bowed. At one point, the judge instructed him to raise his head and face the judge's direction.

The prosecution declared that the case was still under investigation and requested the court to remand the accused individuals whose pleas were not taken. The accused were subsequently remanded in police custody until July 27.