A daughter’s love stirred passion on Friday when she pleaded with the circuit court in Accra to allow an out-of-court settlement of her kidnap case to enable her to reconcile with her father and extended family. Mahart Seidu, the porter in the centre of a kidnapping and chaining drama, made the plea at Friday’s sitting of the court. "I can no longer bear the agony of seeing my father in the dock, and testifying against him and my uncle has proved a daunting task which gives me nightmares", the 19-year-old told the court through an interpreter. Mahart also prayed her father, through the court to forgive her, since she felt uncomfortable approaching him. The presiding judge, Mrs Georgina Mensah-Datsa, however, refused her plea and advised her to co-operate with the court and speak the truth to enable it to fast-track the trial and bring the matter to a logical conclusion. "We appreciate how you feel, because it is not easy standing here with your own father but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it now," she explained. She assured Mahart, however, that the court would ensure that she was not brought to the court again after its next sitting, scheduled for August 16, 2007. The judge entreated the prosecution to ensure that the witness was properly counseled to reduce the mental agony she must be going through, arguing that the court was a referee in the matter and therefore could not plead with her father on her behalf. Mahart made the plea after she gave evidence in a case in which her father, Seidu Amadu, and three others are standing trial for their involvement in her being chained to a Mercedes Benz bus on July 15, this year to be transported to Yama, a village near Walewale in the Northern Region. The other three accused persons are Nahila Banmarugu, the victim's uncle, Ibrahim Tia, a station boy at the Tema Station, and Zingey Haruna, the driver of the bus in which she was chained. They are facing five counts of kidnapping, assault by imprisonment, conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to assault and compulsion of marriage. Earlier she told the court that she had a boyfriend, Emmanuel Dahamani, with whom she had a serious relationship, adding that her parents were aware of her relationship with him. During cross-examination, Mahart said that she had introduced her boyfriend to her parents as the man she wanted to marry. She explained that although her parents objected to her choice of husband, she insisted on her choice. She said she took GH¢60 (¢600,000) from her suitor to travel to Accra, saying that by her tradition and custom, it meant she was legally married to Dahamani, although she did not go to stay with him as husband and wife. The case has been adjourned to August 16, 2007. Source: Daily Graphic/Malik Abass Daabu