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Fetish priests and taxi driver arrested after corpse, body parts found at Ghana shrine

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They are under investigation following the exhumation of three human bodies from shallow graves in the eastern region of Ghana last week.

Cape Town – Two fetish priests and a taxi driver are under investigation following the exhumation of three human bodies from shallow graves in the eastern region of Ghana last week.  

Fetish priests claim to mediate between the spiritual and living realms, and are commonplace in several west African countries. They worship and perform rituals in fetish shrines. 

Ghana’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is set to address the media this week, following a public outcry over the discovery. 

According to GhanaWeb, a full scale investigation is underway after the corpses and body parts were found scattered in the back of the shrine in the Upper West Akyem District.

The raid on the shrine was conducted by a special police team that was searching for a missing former soldier based in Accra, Edward Quartey Papafio. 

Papafio was reported missing after his second visit to the shrine. 

According to reports, his cell phone led police to the area, where they made the discovery.

The priests were taken to Accra following their arrests. 

The priests, Christian Lawoe Gameli aka Power-One, 40, and Famous Adukona aka Scorpion, 36, were running the ‘Power 1 Herbal & Spiritual Centre’ shrine located in the Kwadqo and Kofi Nyarko cillages near Maame Dede Junction on Nsawam and Adeiso Roads.

Gameli and Adukona are being held with the taxi driver, identified only as Allotey, on charges of ritual murder, fraud and the production of fake currencies.

It has been alleged that Papafio re-visited the shrine once he realised he had been conned by the priests. 

According to Ghanaian newspaper, the Daily Guide it was further alleged that Papafio was shot and killed and then buried in the back of the shrine by the priests.

The priests are alleged to stem from Togo and have been living in the village for about five years. According to reports, they have built two fetish shrines and a hotel in the area. They were taken to the scene and pointed to the whereabouts of the bodies. An excavator was then used to exhume the remains. 

Additional human skulls and bones were discovered in the walls of the shrine during the five-hour search. 

The priests are alleged to have charged participants GH¢1,000 (about R 3,200) for a mediation session. 

African News Agency (ANA)

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