Husband of missing Land Commission staff rearrested after discharge by court

Dr. Wilberforce Nkrumah Aggrey, a KNUST lecturer, has been rearrested after he was discharged by the Asokwa District Court.

The lecturer is standing trial for the alleged kidnap of his wife; a staff of the Lands Commission.

He has been in police custody since October 6, 2021, for playing a role in the disappearance of his wife, Rhodaline Amoah-Darko.

The 32-year-old Rhodaline, a Senior Lands Administrative Officer, has been missing since August 30, 2021.

Preliminary police investigations linked Dr. Aggrey of the Petroleum Department of KNUST to an authored kidnapping note. He is also accused of using his wife’s phone to distribute text messages from a spot near his KNUST campus home.

For the first time in several months, he looked set to regain some freedom to move around without the usual handcuffs and police guard.

But his discharge by the court was short-lived, as police officers stationed at the court premises re-arrested and took him into custody.

The court had adjourned proceedings to Monday, February 21, 2022, because the presiding magistrate, His Worship Korkor Achaw Owusu was on leave.

According to a Joy News report, Counsel for the accused, Frederick Kankam, and the Attorney General’s (AG) representative were in court during Monday’s hearing.

When the hearing resumed, a representative of the AG’s office told the court a new charge had been filed at the Kumasi High Court against the accused person.

Mubarak Kadida who held the brief for Charles Edward Addo Yirenkyi, prayed the court to discharge the accused person accordingly.

The court, based on the new information from the AG’s office, discharged the accused accordingly but he was rearrested shortly after his discharge.

Background

Rhodaline Amoah-Darko, until her disappearance, was a Senior Lands Administration Officer at the Kumasi office of the Lands Commission.

On September 21, 2013, she got married to Dr. Wilberforce Aggrey of the Petroleum Department, KNUST.

The couple has since been blessed with two kids, a six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.

Rhodaline Amoah-Darko went missing on August 30, 2021, prompting a search for her.

The Police indicated that her husband, the University Lecturer, complained to the KNUST police on September 2, 2021, that his wife had been kidnapped from her home on Okodie Road, KNUST.

The Police began investigations into the case and they realised that some messages were sent from the former student of Krobo Girls Senior High School’s phone on the same day of her alleged kidnap.

Forensic examination conducted on a handwritten note found in the car of Rhodaline Amoah-Darko revealed that the note was authored by her husband, Dr. Wilberforce Nkrumah Aggrey.

Police prosecutors informed the Asokwa District Court that the note, which read, “Hello Sir, you know our number. Call and pay the ransom,” was written by Dr. Aggrey, a claim the defence counsel has objected to.

In October 2021, investigations by the Police revealed that the accused sent messages from Rhodaline’s phone to relatives and friends from a spot near the Okodie Road on the KNUST campus, on the day she was allegedly kidnapped.

Dr. Aggrey was denied bail by the Asokwa District Court on January 14, 2022.

Meanwhile, the accused in his caution statement to police admitted he sent those messages from his wife’s phone after being forced by one Rukie, who has been allegedly contracted to harm his family.

Rukie, according to the accused, decided to spare the young children of the couple but decided to take the wife to a spot near Volta Lake.

He is however unable to tell police the location of the victim’s phone, neither is he able to tell the location of the victim.

But the family of Rhodaline Amoah-Darko is optimistic about finding her alive.

For the family, it is hard to contend with the harsh reality of her disappearance.

“It has been extremely difficult for us,” her aunt, Charlotte Acquah, told Joy News.

“We all have the faith that she is alive and being kept somewhere by these wicked people. And we pray, and we are trusting the Lord that He will bring her alive to us,” she added.