An Accra Circuit Court presided over by Judge Samuel Bright Acquah has remanded thirty-four year old Gershon Akpa into police custody. According to reports from Graphic Online and the Ghana News Agency, the suspect was charged with the offensive conduct of exhaling a corpse and possessing human parts without lawful authority. The prosecution stated that the arrest occurred in Labadi following a tip-off regarding a potential sale of human remains.
Police investigators told the court that the suspect traveled from the Volta Region to Accra with the intention of selling the skeletal remains for a sum of ten thousand Ghana Cedis. According to a GhanaWeb report, the police received intelligence about the transaction and posed as potential buyers to facilitate the arrest. The prosecution requested further time to investigate the origin of the remains and whether other accomplices were involved in the exhumation.
The defense counsel for the accused requested bail but the application was denied by the court. As reported by Citi Newsroom, the presiding judge cited the gravity of the offense and the need to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation as reasons for the remand. The court has ordered the police to submit the recovered skeletal remains to specialized pathologists for forensic examination to determine their age and possible identity.
Gershon Akpa is scheduled to reappear in court on later dates set by the judicial clerk. The Ghana Police Service has not yet released a formal public statement regarding the specific location where the remains were exhumed. All claims regarding the suspect's intent to sell the remains are attributed to the prosecution's facts presented in court and are subject to trial proceedings where the accused maintains a presumption of innocence.