Four persons, including a woman, who allegedly murdered a seven-year-old schoolgirl, Maame Appiah, for ritual purposes at Akyem Ajobue in the Birim North District in the Eastern Region, have been arrested by the Akyem Oda Police. To prevent the detection of the crime, the four are said to have dumped the body of the little girl in a pit latrine in the town, after draining her blood for a ritual to enable them to win more diamonds. The suspects, who have been remanded in prison custody by the Oda District Magistrate Court, are Kwadwo Ampem, alias Kwadwo Tawiah, 23; Kwasi Gyimah, 24; Kofi Akowiah, 23, all diamond win¬ners, and Mercy Arthur, a 30-year-old farmer. Briefing the Dally Graphic at Oda at the weekend, the Oda Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Ben Atadana, said on December 6, 2007, Little Maame Appiah, who was among a number of people who had watched a football match at Ajobue, failed to return home after the match. He said after a fruitless search for the girl by her parents, her body was found in a public pit latrine in the town two days later. According to Chief Supt Atadana, the parents, who thought that the deceased might have slipped and fallen into the latrine while easing herself at the facility, reported the matter to the police. He said after retrieving the body from the toilet, the police, suspicious of foul play, sent it to the Oda Government Hospital for autopsy. Chief Supt Atadana stated that postmortem examination showed that the girl had been strangulated and blood drained from her body. He said investigations conducted by the police revealed that a 20-year-old lady had collapsed at Ajobue a few days after the murder of the girl and had been admitted to the Oda Government Hospital where she had been hallucinating that she had seen something bizarre in her boyfriend's bedroom. According to the Divisional Police Commander, the police moved in to interrogate her after her discharge from the hospital, during which she revealed that she had seen the body of a little girl in the bedroom of her boyfriend, Kwadwo Tawiah, who had warned her never to tell anybody. She said what she had seen was haunting her. He said based on Mercy's revelation, Tawiah was arrested, together with the lady and the two other accomplices, Gyimah and Akowiah, to assist the police in their investigations. Chief Supt Atadana stated that police investigations had revealed that the suspects murdered the girl and drained her blood for ritual purposes in order to win more diamonds. The suspects, whose pleas were not taken, will appear again on January 21, 2008. In a related development, the police at Oda have arrested the 47-year-old Gyaasehene of Akyem Ajobue, Nana Kyei Mensah, and his wife, Janet Akua Ankomah for their alleged involvement in the murder of a 40-year-old farmer and diamond winner at Ajobue on Christmas day. According to Chief Supt Atadana, the deceased, Mr Yaw Nyarko, also known as Kwaku Nua, a native of Akyem Aboabo near Oda, went to win diamonds at the outskirts of Ajobue on December 25, 2007 and was shot at close range and killed by a sniper around 10 a.m. that day. He said initial police investigations led to the arrest of the deceased's former wife, Janet and her new husband, Nana Kyei Mensah, with whom he was litigating over a piece of farmland at Ajobue. The Divisional Commander stated that the deceased and Janet made a food crop farm on a piece of land offered by Janet's father. He said after the couple had divorced about a year ago, Nyarko was still going to the farm where he won diamonds, despite several warnings by the new couple. Chief Supt Atadana said around 10.00 a.m. on Christmas Day, while Nyarko was winning dia¬monds on the disputed land, a sniper using a shot¬gun shot him dead at close range on the neck and hand. He said the couple had been remanded in prison custody by the Oda District Magistrate Court to appear again on January 17, 2008. Their pleas were not taken. Source: Daily Graphic