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Twins were murdered for 'quick riches'

By Daily Guide
Crime & Punishment Twins were murdered for 'quick riches'
MAY 31, 2008 LISTEN


Daily Guide investigations have revealed that nine-year-old twins, Benjamin and Joseph, who were abducted and subsequently murdered at Tsito in the Volta Region early this year, were killed for a Hummer car.

It was gathered that one of the suspects, John Annan Adecku was heard boasting in town that he was going to buy a Hummer car but could not convince his listeners how he would come by the money for the expensive car, considering his low income status.

Unknown to the people of Tsito, like the proverbial blind man who threatened to stone another person because he had stepped on stone, John's source of instant richness was through human sacrifice.

Daily Guide learnt that the suspects killed the two children to help them acquire charms that could make them instant millionaires. The phrase “Adecku's Hummer” has become a household term in Tsito as everyone including children kept talking about the horrific incident and the quest by John to buy a Hummer car with 'blood money'.

The skulls, bones and clothes of the boys were found in a septic tank in an uncompleted house at the outskirts of Tsito by personnel from the Volta Regional Police Command in Ho led by the Regional Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Bernard Dery.

The discovery of the remains of Benjamin and Joseph, who were declared missing on January 2, 2008 and were suspected to have been trafficked to the Republic of Togo, ended months of uncertainty, anxiety and speculations as to what might have happened to them or their whereabouts.

When Daily Guide visited the family on Thursday at Tsito, a farming community near Ho, the mother of the boys, Victoria Tsitsriku and other members of the household were just willing to talk about the calamity that had befallen them. According to family spokesperson, George Sekweame, also known as Sackey, on January 3, 2008, he had travelled to Dzodze in the Volta Region when he received a call that the twins were missing.

The boys were said to have left home early morning on January 2, 2008 in the company of the prime suspect, John Annan Adecku to an unknown destination. Mr. Sekweame said the matter was reported to the elders and a gong-gong was beaten to inform the people. When this yielded no positive results, the Tsito Police was subsequently informed. According to Sackey, while the police were doing their own investigations, the family was also digging into the matter to complement the police's efforts. As the investigation intensified, a woman and her grandson informed the family that they had seen John Annan Adecku with the children heading toward the house of Dan Prebi who was said to be on the run.

A search for John did not yield any result as it was alleged that he had vamoosed from the town after accomplishing the 'mission'. However, on Saturday January 5, 2008, John was seen at the market square and he was apprehended and sent to the police station. John was said to have initially denied being involved in the abduction of the children and claimed he had never seen them.

The family spokesperson disclosed that through the help of the suspect's auntie, Madam Yaanum Adecku and the suspect's girlfriend (name withheld), John was alleged to have confessed to the crime of abduction and murder. Upon further interrogations, John confessed and mentioned Kanabo Koku , Kafui Kojo Ayidwea and Gbasa Dogbe as his accomplices. The four are currently in police custody in Ho.

In his confession, the suspect mentioned Dan Prebi as the person who instructed him to invite the children to his (Dan's) house to run some errands for him and therefore did not know what happened to them after handing them over to Dan. Daily Guide gathered that while the suspects were put before court, the police were frantically working behind the scenes to unravel the mystery behind the missing twins.

At one of the court's sessions, as narrated by Sackey, John was said to have raised his hand and informed the judge that the three other accomplices had asked him to concoct lies against the police to the effect that it was the police who told him (John) to mention the three suspects as accomplices. John was said to have consulted another person in the cells and was advised against doing anything 'stupid' with the hope of setting those three suspects free.

This was said to have infuriated the judge and he instructed the police to separate John from the three other suspects. The police in their investigations arrested the wife of one Borkor Sekley (jujuman) at Leklebi near Hohoe, so she would show the whereabouts of her husband. Borkor Sekley was said to be the jujuman who performed the rituals for the suspects to make them rich. One Mr. Kpasra, a relative of Sekley, was also arrested by the police to assist in investigations.

Mr. Sackey said he was at home last Sunday May 25, 2008 when he had a call from the police that the remains of the boys had been found. The announcement threw the whole town into mourning as tension began to mount, with people threatening to lynch the suspects when they get hold of them.

Sackey praised the police for their professionalism and said the family had received the best of cooperation from the police since they took over the matter. For her part, Victoria described the children as her 'future hopes', who she said were very brilliant and were going to be 'shining stars' of the family. She, for that reason, spent her meagre resources to ensure that Benjamin and Joseph had the best of education.

Madam Victoria, who has two other children, said the father of the twins, one Kwaku Bani was an irresponsible man who had left the upkeep of the children on her shoulders. She said Mr. Bani had, since the incident, not shown any concern, leaving the matter to her family members to handle.

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