Safina, a first-year student at the University of Ghana, is being held over the murder of Frank Kofi Osei, a Ghanaian resident in Canada.

She pleaded not guilty to the murder of her Ghanaian boyfriend who resided in Canada and is currently on bail.

In court on Wednesday, October 23, when the case was called, both the accused and her lawyers were absent.

Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, a Justice of the Court of Appeal sitting with additional responsibilities as a High Court judge, issued the bench warrant for her arrest.

“We were supposed to have a date with the jury and the lawyers today (October 23) for the trial to commence this morning,” Justice Marfo said. “Accidentally, the accused person and her lawyers are absent without any reasonable cause. A bench warrant is hereby issued for her arrest,” the court ordered.

Nana Ama Adinkra, a Senior State Attorney, was present in court.

The jury, which had been empaneled in previous legal years, has been discharged, and a new panel will be constituted as part of new directives.

Background

In her previous address to the jury on Thursday, March 7, the Senior State Attorney indicated they would call nine witnesses, including another boyfriend of the accused and five police officers, to prove their case.

She stated that they would demonstrate that Frank Osei is dead, that his death was caused by unlawful harm, and that the unlawful harm leading to his death was inflicted by the accused intentionally.

The Senior State Attorney also mentioned that the knife identified as the murder weapon, which had blood stains, was confirmed through DNA analysis to belong to the deceased.

On July 29, 2022, a DNA test was performed on the body, with results indicating that the cause of death was unnatural. The deceased’s body was reportedly in the early stages of decomposition, and medical professionals concluded that he might have died at least 72 hours prior.

Defense

Defense lawyer Samuel Alesu-Dordzi urged the jury to uphold the principles of fairness, objectivity, and justice.

He expressed surprise at the prosecution’s claims that his client and the deceased were involved in “kinky sex,” urging the jury to consider both sides of the story before reaching a verdict.

He also encouraged them to ignore social media commentaries surrounding the case.

Facts of the Case

According to the prosecution, on Sunday, July 24, 2022, Osei, who was on vacation in Ghana, visited Safina, his fiancée, at her residence in Ashaley Botwe School Junction, and decided to spend the night with her.

That night, Safina, along with accomplices yet to be arrested, allegedly stabbed Osei with a knife and strangled him.

The prosecution alleges that Safina and her accomplices cleaned up the blood from the floor while Osei’s body remained in the room for 24 hours.

They claim the body was dragged from the first floor of the building through the staircase and dumped at the gate of the house, where Osei had parked his Toyota Tundra.

Safina allegedly called the police, claiming that her boyfriend had died in her room. Upon arrival, law enforcement found Osei’s body lying at the gate of Safina’s house, leading to her arrest for investigations.

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The incident involved Dumelo and a student identified as Dacosta, who confronted Dumelo over restrictions on his phone usage at the center.

The verbal exchange escalated and nearly turned physical before security officers intervened and escorted Dumelo away.

A political commentator later reported on social media that Dacosta had sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).

The commentator even attached a photo of a bloody knee, which was later proven to be unrelated to the incident and did not even occur in Ghana.

In response to calls for legal action against the individual spreading false information, Dumelo dismissed the idea.

He remarked that in legal terms, it is often impractical to sue someone without substantial means (“a man of straw”) as it would be challenging to enforce any resulting financial judgment.

In law, it’s advisable not to sue a man of straw. If I sue, it will take him 68 years to pay. https://t.co/ZY4eOj65yx

— Farmer John (@johndumelo) May 29, 2024

The Adentan District Court 1, presided over by Her Worship, Nancy Adade, committed Nafisatu to the Accra High Court to open her murder trial on September 18, 2023.

Presenting the facts of the committal charges, the prosecution attorney, Nana Amma Adinkrah, and her team presented all the exhibits and evidence for the court to use and begin the trial.

A nephew of the deceased, Bismark Sakyi, told the media after the court sitting that he was happy about the trial process so far.

Nafisatu, 23, is alleged to have been assisted by a technical officer, Michael Fiifi Ampofo, in the commission of the crime on July 25, 2023, at Ashaley Botwe School Junction.

The deceased was reportedly in the country on vacation and decided to spend the night at Nafisatu’s residence when the incident happened.

The Prosecutor said the deceased was left in the room for 24 hours.

He again said, the Accused dragged the deceased from the first floor of a-storey building downstairs and dumped him by the gate.

The suspect, according to the Prosecutor, called a police officer on Tuesday, July 26, to report that her boyfriend had died in her room upon visiting.

The officer and the police patrol team, upon arrival at the scene, found the body of the deceased by the gate, while the girlfriend was nowhere to be found.

ALSO READ:

• Legon: Police seek call records in level 100 student’s boyfriend murder

• Video: Four Nigerians arrested in Accra for attempting to murder househelp

Aside the reckless driving he initailly accused Fameye of, Dave has accused him and his team of theft.

He narrated how at 5:00pm on January 9, 2021, Fameye made a reckless drive close to a traffic light, which nearly swayed the ‘trotro’ he was a passenger in.

He said the life-threatening incident infuriated all the passengers and driver, who particularly alighted to confront the reckless driver.

Dave narrated that it was then they realized the passengers of the black Toyota Camry car with a DV plate including the popular Highlife artiste.

He said while being confronted, all Fameye did was “smiling in the front seat nonchalantly”, which forced him to pull out his phone to record the incident.

The footage, he alleged, earned him some beatings from ‘Fameye’s boys’.

Aside the beatings received, Dave said Fameye’s boys snatched his iPhone 8 and sped off the moment the traffic light turned green.

A case was subsequently filed at the Legon Police Station against Fameye, and Dave also made an online report.

Reacting to the brouhaha, Fameye posted his side of the story, which confirmed he was indeed involved in reckless driving on that fateful day.

He, however, admitted that Dave’s phone was seized for raining insults on him and his team because he swayed their ‘trotro’ off the road.

Fameye also stated at that time, he believed the video was taken for clout purposes, and that would be a dent on his reputable brand.

In a tweet, he said he planned on returning the phone the next day, but changed his mind when Dave allegedly recruited some keyboard warriors to verbally assault him on Twitter.

Fameye is now ready to return the phone after almost one year and three months, on the condition that Dave makes a video to apologize for filming the ‘superstar’.

According to Enam, the lecturer who stands accused of sexual harassment in the BBC’s latest investigative piece – Sex for Grades- is very much liked by all those he teachers now.

“He is well behaved, he is very disciplined and a good lecturer. Most students sympathised with him in class today. Most students disagreed with the BBC because they do not think what they saw was harassment unlike the case of the Nigerian,” she told Starr News.

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In a video going viral on social media, Prof. Gyampo can be seen at one point wiping a tear from his eye as students screamed amidst random remarks about scenes in the BBC video.

Prof. Gyampo who is also the head of the European Studies at the university was seen and heard in the BBC documentary which mentions him as one of the lecturers who offer grades to students in exchange for sex.

In excerpts of the video released on BBC Somalia’s Facebook page, Professor Gyampo persuaded the reporter to meet him at the mall where he was caught on camera making “numerous inappropriate demands.”

The lead reporter in the exposé, Kiki Mordi, said she was also a victim of sexual harassment when she was in school.

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Meanwhile, Prof. Gyampo has stated that he will initiate a legal action against the BBC over the report.

” I have a lot to say about this matter. But I am suing the BBC for defamation tomorrow, so I will keep some of the facts to myself for now. Let me state however, that I have not involved myself in the BBC’s so-called sex for grades and will never do so. Their own video documentary evidence could not establish this. I am aware of my University’s Sexual Harassment Policy and I have always adhered to its dogmas.

“The lady involved in my informal conversation, was not my student and she wasnt also a student from the University of Ghana where I teach. I therefore cannot decipher how I could manipulate the grade of a non-student. The BBC ignored all her contributions to our conversation. They ignored all her messages she sent to me. They ignored my objections and letters written to refute their allegations. They also edited the video to suit their purpose.

ALSO: Listen: Owusu Bempah speaks on controversial CSE saga

“While I prepare to sue the BBC for carrying out the most bogus and unprofessional piece of documentary in the world so far, I wish to remind them that Ghana and for that matter, Africa, has long thrown out the yoke of colonialism,” he wrote on Facebook.

Source: Starrfm