Bawjiase Home boss freed

The five persons arrested in connection with the Bawjiase Countryside Children’s Welfare Home scandal have been granted bail by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The suspects, Ernest Osei Wusu, Administrator; Justice Appiah, Accountant; Justice Quarshie, teacher and Eunice Abena, nurse were released on police inquiry bail Wednesday night.

This followed a botched attempt on Wednesday by state prosecutors to arraign the suspects before the Gender Based Violence Court at the Cocoa Affairs Court in Accra for trial to commence.

Prosecution had argued that the Attorney- General (A-G) was yet to allocate a court where the case would be heard.

The suspects, who were reportedly arrested on Monday by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Police, have been provisionally charged for stealing goods or donations of the orphanage.

However, confirming the release of the persons to DAILY GUIDE in a telephone interview yesterday, Dr Kwaku Nsiah, counsel for the suspects, said Emma Boafo Yeboah, who was admitted at the Police Hospital, had also been admitted to bail.

Earlier, lawyers of the suspects had filed a motion on notice for a writ of Habeas Corpus at the Human Rights Division of an Accra High Court.

They wanted the court to make an order directing the officer in charge of the Anti- Human Trafficking Unit of the police headquarters to produce the applicants before the court.

Dr Kwaku Nsiah, counsel for the suspects, in a 17-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion filed at the court on Tuesday indicated that while waiting for the outcome of the application for bail, they saw the applicants being taken away from the office of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit downstairs to the fifth floor.

Dr Nsiah said that all the applicants were put in a waiting Pick up and taken to an unknown place for detention.

Among other things, he said all attempts to know where the police had taken the applicants for detention proved futile, adding that “the first applicant is hypertensive and diabetic and had not taken her medication since her arrest and detention, whilst the third applicant was undergoing malaria treatment before his arrest and detention and had also not been taking his medication.