The 24-year-old mother who has captured national attention following her statement on Adom FM, a Tema-based radio station that there was a mass rape of women on a Tamale-bound bus at Kubiase near Ejisu in the Ashanti region, has been remanded into police custody for the next eight days.
Amina Mohammed, whose offence is a bailable one, would have spent over 10 days in detention between her arrest last Saturday and the next appearance day.
The accused person, who entered an Accra circuit court yesterday with a veil over her face, was charged with causing panic and fear as well as deceiving of public officer. Although she pleaded not guilty, the court presided over by Mrs. Patience Mills-Tetteh, without any explanation, remanded her into police custody to re-appear on Tuesday, November 9, 2010, after both the prosecution and the defence team had argued why she should or should not be granted bail.
The prosecution, led by State Attorney Paul Asibi Abariga, was of the view that the accused had caused extensive fear and panic in the country by her utterances, arguing that if she was granted bail, she might interfere with the investigation process which is still ongoing.
He disclosed that the prosecution was yet to contact other witnesses for more information on the matter. Andy Appiah-Kubi, lead counsel for the accused, indicated that the offence was a bailable offence and a mere misdemeanor.
He said by the facts, the bail was supposed to be automatic and told the court that Amina had substantial people who were ready to stand surety for her. However, the court upheld the prosecution’s submission.
In an interview with journalists, Mr. Appiah-Kubi stated that the defence team was not happy about the decision of the court and stressed that they would appeal to the High Court over the judge’s decision to remand the suspect. “The judge did not give any reason but we believe the decision was wrong. We canvassed enough evidence for bail to be granted our client. There has been some injustice and we will appeal at the High Court.”
Paul Abariga, in his narration of the facts, said the accused, who is a hairdresser at Ashaiman, was travelling on a Yutong bus with registration number GN 263-10 to a funeral on October 11, 2010.
She alleged that there was an armed robbery attack on the bus at Kintampo in which the robbers forced the men on the bus to rape female passengers. She further alleged that a father was forced to rape his 14-year-old daughter. Thereafter, several radio stations and newspapers picked the publication, causing fear and panic in the country.
However, investigations conducted into the matter so far by the police disclosed that on October 12, 2010, the Ejisu Police received a case of attempted robbery which occurred at Kubiase in the Ashanti Region from a driver in charge of the said Yutong bus bound for Bawku in the Upper West Region.
Later, the driver was contacted by the police and in his caution statement, he allegedly disclosed that at about 10pm, he loaded his bus from Accra enroute to Bawku.
On reaching Kubiase, he noticed a roadblock near the Customs barrier. He however refused to stop because he sensed danger. His suspicions were confirmed when a gang believed to be armed robbers shot into the rear windscreen of the bus.
The driver told the police that he drove until he reached the Ejisu Police Station where he lodged a complaint after which he drove the 47 passengers on board the bus safely to their destination. He debunked media reports that there was a mass rape.
The media were not allowed into the courtroom to witness the proceedings which lasted for almost 45 minutes.
However, one could hear heated arguments between the prosecution and the defence counsel who later briefed journalists on what transpired after the proceedings.
Amina was whisked away amidst tight security.
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