Is There Justice In Ghana?

“Branding” justice for a “missing” Ghanaian citizen and his Ghanaian born Canadian guest – what lessons does a botched deal RE: a 2003 Nissan frontier pick-up truck provide to Ghanaian authorities???

In May of 2007, a very bizarre case involving a Ghanaian citizen and Social worker (Seidu Samed) who mysteriously disappeared while playing a Good Samaritan and hosting a Ghanaian born Canadian citizen (Abdul-Samed Seidu) that was visiting Ghana gained publicity among key media groups in the Country. The Ghanaian Citizen, Mr. Seidu (a.k.a. Joe Sama) has been missing since May, 2007 from his Kalpohini Estates residence and is feared dead by family and friends. At the time of the victim’s disappearance, his guest, Abdul-Samed Seidu of Canada was the last person to set eyes on the victim, and when confronted about his whereabouts provided changing stories that included the victim being on the run for stealing his 30 million Ghanaian Cedis which later became 140 million Ghanaian Cedis.

The story below, one of the many articles published in the Daily Graphic of Ghana is to provide new readers with a summary of the case:

Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale

Posted: Friday, 1 February 2008 “MOST residents of Tamale are still baffled over the inability of the police to unravel the mysterious disappearance of the 31-year-old development worker, Mr. Abdul-Samed Seidu, who is suspected to have been murdered in his house in Tamale.

His mortal remains have still not been uncovered by the police almost nine months after his supposed disappearance from his house.

According to the police, they were still following various leads to untangle the puzzle over the case and that the forensic examinations were ongoing. They have therefore appealed to the general public who may have any knowledge of the possible location of Mr. Seidu, to volunteer information to help in the speedy trial of the case pending in court.

News about the suspected murder of Mr. Seidu, a graduate of the University of Cape Coast, sent shock waves through residents, including acquaintances, relations and co-workers of the Regional Advisory, Information and Network Systems (RAINS), where he worked.

It also generated open animosity between the family and acquaintances of Mr. Seidu and those of the suspect who incidentally bear the same name as of the former, Abdul-Samed Seidu, believed to have caused the disappearance of the victim.

The Tamale District Court, which began the trial of the case, charged the suspect on three counts of stealing, kidnapping and murdering the victim. The case was subsequently transferred to the Tamale High Court to allow the applicant, who had appealed for a bail, to be heard.

However, the court which sat on the case on July 11, 2008 turned down his request. The suspect has since been in prison custody in Tamale. According to a State Attorney, Mr. Salia Abdul-Quddus, the victim was a friend of the applicant, who accommodated the latter at his residence on May 14, 2007 when he returned from Canada.

He said the two lived together for four days after which the victim could not be traced for which reason a report was made to the police.

The prosecutor said the applicant failed to accompany the family of the victim to report his disappearance to the police but chose to go to the police station alone to report that the victim had allegedly stolen his GH¢3,000. He later claimed the victim owed him a total of GH¢14,000.

According to Mr. Abdul-Quddus, the applicant after lodging the complaint, abandoned the victim’s house and moved into a hotel but when the police went for him to assist in investigations into the whereabouts of the victim, they were informed that the suspect had checked out for an unknown destination. He said the police subsequently learnt that the applicant, who held a Canadian passport, was in Accra preparing to fly back to Canada on the next available flight and the Tamale District Court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. The prosecutor further said the applicant was not arrested during departure formalities but got arrested inside a Delta Air plane for which reason the plane had to be delayed for the applicant’s luggage to be removed. It also turned out that the applicant changed his return flight date to an earlier date for which he had had to pay a penalty.

When the luggage of the applicant was searched, two Canadian and Ghanaian passports were found inside with one of the passports having expired. Also retrieved were a digital camera, documents of a house, a laptop, an ipod, a Motorola phone battery, two phone chargers and two pen drives, all belonging to the victim.

The prosecutor said earlier, the plane ticket the applicant bought for the flight from Tamale to Accra was purchased with the name as that of the applicant’s brother-in-law.

He also said a new piece of cloth the victim bought to be presented to his mother on Mother’s Day celebration in May, 2007 was found in the possession of the sister of the applicant, who said her brother had given it to her. Mr. Abdul-Quddus further said that earlier, when the room of the victim was searched after his sudden disappearance, an amount of 3,000 euros, 700 pounds, cheques for GH¢750 and GH¢500 were found”.

Source ZAK’s Stories (Posted by ZAK’S STORIES at: http://zakalhassan.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html)

In the above noted article, Mr. Alhassan intimates the due diligence of the Ghanaian Authorities in following some leads to “untangle the puzzle over the case” and a request from the Police to the Public to provide information to help them. This logically leads to the legitimate question of email communications between the victim and his guest (suspect) regarding a botched NISSAN FRONTIER PICK UP TRANSACTION that was discovered by the Ghanaian Authorities and family of the victim after the suspect was arrested in Accra while aboard a Delta airline flight back to Canada. This transaction relates to a FALSE bill of laden (shipping document) that the suspect (Mr. Seidu of Canada) sent to the victim by email claiming to have shipped a 2003 Model Nissan Frontier Pick Up Truck with VIN 1N6MD29Y23C429330.

This vehicle, Mr. Seidu of Canada stated in his communications with the victim, was to arrive in Ghana in May, 2007 and was consigned to the victim after the victim sent him money from Ghana to buy him a PICK-UP Truck. It is therefore interestingly coincidental that the victim would disappear about the same time when the purported vehicle was to arrive in Ghana. This is significant in light of the fact that Mr. Seidu of Canada was the only person with the victim at his residence in Tamale when he allegedly disappeared.

With the assistance of groups in Canada, the Major Fraud Unit of Canada Police became involved and investigated the forgery committed by Mr. Seidu of Canada and later located the vehicle listed in the FALSE bill of laden emailed by Mr. Seidu of Canada to the victim (Mr. Seidu of Ghana) as registered to CUSTOM RIDES INC. in Mississauga, Ontario. According to the records, Mr. Seidu of Canada never purchased this vehicle, and in checking with the shipping company on the forged bill of laden, such vehicle was never shipped by that company. This leaves an irresistible inference, fair or unfair, that the PICK UP TRUCK which was never purchased nor shipped by Mr. Seidu of Canada holds some of the answers as to where the Ghanaian citizen might be which the suspect is not disclosing. Mr. Seidu of Canada should, as a matter of fairness and justice assist the Ghanaian Authorities with information on this particular PICK UP TRUCK and other pieces of information that can help in locating his friend, who provided him accommodation and other personal supports while he was in Tamale. To preserve the honour of the missing Ghanaian citizen, if indeed he is dead as feared by his family, Ghanaian Authorities should consider getting assistance from the Canadian Police with respect to this NISSAN PICK VEHICLE AND THE FALSIFIED BILL OF LADEN SENT BY MR. SEIDU OF CANADA TO THE VICTIM. ADDITIONALLY, SINCE THE EMAIL TRANSACTIONS REGARDING THIS VEHICLE HAVE ALREADY BEEN EXTRACTED BY THE GHANAIAN AUTHORITIES, COPIES CAN BE SENT TO CANADA TO CONNECT THE CASES BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT THE SUSPECT’S EMAILS TO THE VICTIM ORIGINATED FROM CANADA USING SYMPATICO.CA, A SERVICE OWNED BY BELL CANADA.

IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE SUSPECT WAS/HAS BEEN RELEASED ON BAIL FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTING MURDER AND KIDNAPPING, AND RECENTLY HAD HIS MURDER AND KIDNAPPING CHARGES COMPLETELY WITHDRAWN BY THE GHANAIAN AUTHORITIES. IF THIS IS THE CASE, SHOULD THE GHANAIAN AUTHORITIES NOT BE LOOKING AT PREFERRING A CHARGE OF FRAUD OR DECEIT ON MR. SEIDU OF CANADA, WITH THE EMAIL EVIDENCE IN THEIR POSSESSION ABOUT THE NISSAN VEHICLE??? WHAT ABOUT THE ATTEMPTS MADE BY MR. SEIDU OF CANADA TO EVADE GHANAIAN AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING THIS CASE BY USING UNAPPROVED TECHNIQUES TO ESCAPE FROM GHANA IN MAY 2007?????.

Lord Baba