Fetish priest arrested for fraud

Wassa-Akropong (W/R), May 9, GNA - The Wassa-Akropong Police have arrested a 35-year-old traditional priest for allegedly defrauding Musah Azin, farmer at Wassa-Akropong of 2.7 million cedis with the promise to make him rich.

Chief Inspector Nelson Agbi, in-charge of Wassa-Akropong police station, told the GNA that in April this year the suspect, Charles Nyamekeh approached Azin and informed him that his gods had promised to make him rich within a short period.

Nyamekeh reportedly told the complainant that the gods had revealed to him that a pot filled with gold had been hidden on his farm and rituals had to be performed to locate it.

Mr. Agbi said the complainant gave Nyamekeh 1.5 million cedis, as he demanded, to be burnt into ashes as an offering to the gods. A few days latter, Nyamekeh approached the complainant again and asked him to provide a ram, a fowl, palm oil, plantain and 1.2 million cedis cash for purification and digging of the pot of gold and he obliged.

Mr Agbi said even though the complainant suggested that all the rituals and digging of the pot be done during the day, Nyamekeh insisted that the gods wanted it to be done in the midnight.

He said at midnight on April 26, the two, accompanied by one other man went to the farm of the complainant where Nyamekeh told them to wait while he proceeded to a place to perform the initial rituals. Mr. Agbi said on his return Nyamekeh pointed to four different spots where the gold was to be found but after digging deep nothing was found.

Nyamekeh instructed that the digging must be repeated and this time a pot was found after which the ram was slaughtered. However to the dismay of the complainant the pot only contained sand and some leaves.

Mr. Agbi said when the complainant demanded the refund of his money, Nyamekeh could not do so and the matter was reported to the police. Nyamekeh has since been granted bail in the sum of two million cedis while investigations continue.