Woman arrested for attempting to sell vultures

A 35-year-old trader, Madam Dovi Akosua was last Saturday, arrested by the Accra Railway Station Police when she took ten vultures to a chop bar at the CMB lorry station in Accra.

The woman was suspected to have gone to the chop bar to sell off the birds and the situation was saved only by the suspicions of a driver who insisted on seeing the contents of the sacks she was carrying.

The woman, a resident of Cape Coast, had boarded a Mercedes Benz bus with registration number GW 7425 P at 4am from the Central Regional capital for a trip to Accra.

According to the driver, Mr Kwame Ofori a.k.a Cedi, the vulture woman boarded his bus with a sack full of unidentified contents. The sack, he said, was placed alongside other luggage belonging to passengers on the bus.

On arrival in Accra, the driver stopped for a passenger to alight at a place close to the Graphic Corporation.

The driver who had seen the beaks of unidentified birds in the sack, asked the woman about what the contents, to which Akosuavi said they were turkeys.

Not satisfied with the answer of the woman, the suspicious driver monitored the woman until the journey terminated at the Cocoa Marketing Board lorry station where she claimed her luggage and proceeded towards a location at the station.

The trailing driver watched Akosuavi as she entered a popular chop bar, which hosts most drivers and passengers at the CMB lorry station. Just as she was about to discharge the contents of the sack, the driver surfaced and, upon seeing him, she withheld the action. This heightened his suspicion.

The driver, at this point, used force to make the woman open the sack, an action that attracted a crowd.

When eventually the sack was opened, it was found to contain the carcass of eight vultures and two live ones.

Each bird was put in a separate sack and then the ten were all put in one sack. It was discovered also that each of the vultures was tied tightly before being confined to the sacks. On discovering that Akosuavi’s sack contained vultures, which were destined for the cooking pots of the chop bar, the crowd descended on her with beatings.

Only the timely arrival of the Police on the scene saved the woman from what could have been a nastier situation. Although some onlookers claimed to have seen the woman at the chop bar on a number of occasions, the proprietor of the joint disclaimed her adding that she has never seen her before.

The police have refused to disclose the name of the chop bar because of the legal implications about such a disclosure at this stage of the investigations

According to the District Commander of the railway police station, assistant superintendent of police, Mr Kodjo Nkansah, the attention of his outfit was drawn to the mob action, whereupon some men were drafted to the scene.