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I Was Denied Food In Prison, Nigerian Man Accused Of Kidnapping 'Takoradi Girls' Tells Ghana Court

John Orji, who was arrested from neighbouring Togo last year, claimed he is asthmatic and needed to eat good food, but he was being denied the opportunity.

One of the two Nigerians arrested in connection with the kidnapping of the Takoradi girls stunned the Sekondi High Court on Wednesday when he told the presiding judge that he was not being given enough food in the prisons where he was awaiting trial.

John Orji, who was arrested from neighbouring Togo last year, claimed he is asthmatic and needed to eat good food, but he was being denied the opportunity.

"My handlers are not taking care of my health. I'm asthmatic and the medicine I'm being given requires adequate food, but I'm not getting that," Ghanaweb quoted him to have said at the court.

The presiding judge, Justice Adjei-Frimpong, referred the matter to the prison to take good care of him and insisted on legal representation for the two suspects, including Sam Udoetuk Wills. 

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Udoetuk Wills and Orji earlier told the court that they had no legal representation.

The judge said the authorities should make an effort to get them lawyers so that the case could proceed smoothly after committal. 

The judge said he would write to the Legal Aid to provide the suspect with legal representation. He said the case was a matter of public interest and so there was the need to expedite the trial.

The case was adjourned to July 29, 2020. Later in an interview, the lawyer representing the families of the Kidnapped Takoradi girls, Nana Abeka, said the accused persons were in court for the commencement of the trial after completing the committal proceedings.

 

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