Alhaji Dawood and five others who were implicated in the Nayele Ametefeh cocaine saga have been freed.
This followed the filing of a nolle-prosequi by the state, expressing its disinterest in pursuing the case which was pending at a Circuit Court in Accra
The six, Alhaji Mohammed Alamid Dawood, Nana Akua Amponsah, Sadalia Sandra Nuhu, Abiel Ashietey Armah, a Foreign Service Officer and two other officials of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), were standing trial for allegedly aiding Nayele Ametefeh to transport 12.5 kilogrammes of cocaine to the United Kingdom.
They however pleaded not guilty to the charge of aiding and abetment of crime.
Facts of the case
Alhaji Dawood is said to have called Abiel Ashitey Armah, a Deputy Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is the officer in charge of the VVIP and VIP Unit of the KIA, on phone to allow the ladies to use the VIP Lounge and also help them onto the tarmac to board the airline for London.
A simulation exercise conducted at the KIA revealed that the ladies, Nana Akua Amponsah, Sadalia Sandra Nuhu were helped by two officers of the Foreign Affairs Protocol Unit who had been instructed by the officer in charge of the VVIP and VIP Unit of KIA to assist them to access the VIP Lounge.
Investigations also established that they used an entrance reserved for staff of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Airport Security, and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, NACOB and the BNI at the airport.
It was further revealed that the two ladies, together with Ametefeh, went through the normal travel check-in processes, as they had earlier checked in their suitcases and went to the VIP Lounge with only their hand luggage which was scanned.
They then went through the VIP Baggage Arrival Hall and then to the VIP Lounge where they waited before boarding the airline to the Heathrow Airport.
Arrest
The two ladies were arrested in their homes after news had broken that they had returned to Ghana.
The other suspects were arrested after they had been exposed by a CCTV footage which captured the entry of Ametefeh, Amponsah and Nuhu, accompanied by some officials of the Foreign Affairs Protocol Unit, at the airport.
State discontinues case
Following the state’s disinterest in the case, lawyer for one of the accused, Frank Davies expressed his excitement over the state’s decision, describing it as a victory to the rule of law.
According to him, “this nolle-prosequi should have been filed way back, the day after the proceedings in England when the lady who was arrested…failed to mention any of the accused persons’ names. I think the prosecution at that stage should have realised that it was a lost cause,”
Nayele alias Ruby Adu Gyamfi who confessed to the offence of trafficking of cocaine was on January 5, 2015 sentenced to a prison term of 8years 8months in the United Kingdom.
