Court jails 6 more members of Western Togoland secessionist group

An Accra High Court has delivered various sentences to six more members of the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF), a secessionist campaign group in Ghana.

This was contained in a report by graphic.com.gh.

The convicted individuals were involved in a series of offences, including attacking police officers, vandalizing a police car and station, as well as blocking roads leading to the Volta Region to impede access for people from other parts of Ghana.

Their primary motive was to achieve secession from Ghana.

The court, presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, slapped one of the convicted individuals whose name is given as Kwame Tornyeveadzi with a six-year imprisonment term for stealing an AK47 rifle from the Ghana Police in Aveyime, Volta Region, on September 25, 2020.

The other five were also found guilty on nineteen counts of charges, including attending meetings of a prohibited group, participating in a campaign for a prohibited organization, making contributions to a prohibited organization, and being members of a prohibited organization.

The court considered the fact that the five convicts were first-time offenders and considered the time they had already spent in custody thereby sentencing them to a four-year jail term each.

Their defence counsel, Chris Ackumey, prayed to the court that his client's intentions were rooted in seeking knowledge about their history.

“They were in search of knowledge, unfortunately, our quest for knowledge has landed us where we are now. They have no intention of falling foul of the law.

"We found ourselves in the circumstances beyond our control and the same had landed us where we are,” he said.

Chris Ackumey also told the court that his clients, while in custody, had suffered emotionally, physically, and spiritually while in custody, and that they had shown remorse during the trial.

“Given the chance, we would not commit the mess again. Consider the trauma and suffering we have gone through,” he added.

Contrary to the defendant's plea, Joshua Sackey, a Senior Attorney for the Republic, told the court to impose deterrent sentences and fines, considering the lack of remorse displayed by the convicts.

He rejected the notion that their actions were driven by a pursuit of knowledge, citing evidence presented in court.

The arrests of the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF) members on September 25, 2020, were conducted by the National Security Council, following intelligence reports.

The group's activities, according to the council, included road blockades at Juapong and Sogakope, setting fire to two STC buses, and attacks on the Aveyime and Mepe Police Stations, leading to the release of inmates and the theft of arms and ammunition.

The convictions of these individuals, their associated roles in the WTRF's activities, and the sentences handed down by the court serve as a stern warning to other like-minded individuals. The prosecution argued for the necessity of deterrent punishments to discourage similar secessionist endeavours.

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