Drowning of 2 teenagers last year: Family demands outcome of police investigations

The family of one of two teenagers who got drowned in a swimming pool at New Aplaku in the Ga South Municipality is demanding the outcome of investigations into the case by the Ghana Police Service.

It said one year after the incident on Saturday June 12, 2022, the family was yet to be briefed on the outcome of investigations into the matter by the police.

There has also not been a prosecution in the matter although the drowning occurred at an event centre in Accra.

Autopsy

It said apart from the autopsy report which said the teenagers died as a result of the lack of oxygen, the family did not know what was going on as far as investigations were concerned.

Charles William Duodu, an uncle of Christabel Agyekumwaa who was a victim in the incident, said it had been back and forth with the police over the last six months “

“We have gone to the Weija Police, CID Headquarters in Accra where they told us that they wanted experts to see what they (police) had seen in it.

“From where the CCTV monitor is located, it is easy to see everything clearly from the camera and so why don’t you play it for us to watch it too so that we would be clear in our minds as to what happened on that fateful day,” he emphasised.

Foul play

Mr Duodu said the family was suspecting foul play in the matter because it did not understand why there was no outcome or prosecution in the matter.

He said the family only wanted justice to be done in the matter and nothing else.

On June 12, 2022, Oliver Ayertei Tetteh, then 17 and a second-year student of the St John’s Grammar School in Accra, and Christabel Agyekumwaa, also 17, and a second-year student of the Methodist SHS in Saltpond in the Central Region, got drowned in a swimming pool at the events centre.

Background  

Oliver’s uncle, Fred Tetteh, had told the Daily Graphic that his nephew and Christabel had been friends from JHS.

He said on June 12, Oliver told his father that he had a challenge with his phone and so he wanted to go to Kasoa to have it repaired.

Apparently, he said, his nephew first went to Christabel’s house and asked her to accompany him to Kasoa to repair his phone.

Mr Tetteh said about 3 p.m. on that fateful day when Oliver had not returned home, Oliver’s father called the boy’s phone several times but there was no response, although it was ringing.

Around 4:30 p.m., Mr Tetteh said, they became alarmed and went to the SCC Police Station to report the matter.

He said the police took their telephone numbers and promised to get in touch with them, if they had any information on the whereabouts of the two teenagers.

He said about 6:30 p.m., the police called Christabel’s grandfather and asked him to call Oliver’s father for them to report to the police station to verify information on the two teenagers that was available to the police.