By Edmund Smith-Asante, ADA FOAH
Castro’s
friends have been holed up at the Peace Holiday Resort at Ada Foah since the
incident.
Two
journalists Tuesday tasted the frustration of friends of the hiplife musician,
Castro, who is believed to have drowned during a boat cruise at Ada Foah last
Sunday.
The two
journalists, Mr Benjamin Tetteh, Joy FM’s Eastern Regional correspondent, and
Mr Daniel Nyorngmor, who reports for GBC Radio, were literally thrown out of
the facility by some of the friends of the musician.
Mr Tetteh
was not only thrown out; he was also manhandled and his mobile phone forcibly
taken away from him by one of the friends, with the assistance of others.
The crime
of both journalists was that they had been seen speaking on their phones,
actions which one of the friends, who arrogated to himself the role of a security
officer, interpreted to mean they were filing reports.
The incident
Mr
Tetteh, who admitted that he was filing a report, told the Daily Graphic that
he was ordered to cut the call, failure of which resulted in the scuffle and
the subsequent seizure of his phone.
It took
the intervention of a policeman and Mr Baffuor Gyan, the brother of Black Stars
captain, Asamoah Gyan, to calm nerves.
However,
it was much later, after Mr Tetteh had been put outside the gate and all the
pictures he had taken deleted, that the phone was returned to him.
He said
he was going to file a report on the incident with the police at Ada Foah.
The Daily
Graphic and all journalists from GTV, UTV, Peace FM and the Daily Guide were
also barred from entering the resort.
No one
would also speak with the media on the latest developments, while attempts by
the Daily Graphic to speak with the Ada East District Police Commander, Chief
Supt Hlordzi Dodze, were not successful.
He was
engaged in meetings with the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey
Agbo; the District Chief Executive, Mr John Nurudeen Ahortu, and other
stakeholders suspected to be representatives of Castro’s family.
Rites
A speed
boat pilot at the Tserley Korpe Beach Resort, who only gave his name as Richard,
told the Daily Graphic that an elderly man and a linguist he had taken to the
Ada Estuary were emissaries of the Chief of Ada Foah, Nene Tawiah Kokotey
Nanor, who had gone to perform some rites to aid in the recovery of the bodies
of Castro and his girlfriend.
Last moments of Castro
A close
source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Daily Graphic that on the day of the incident, Castro was in high
spirits and even declined to eat when he was signalled that food was ready
while he went on the boat expedition.
The
source said Castro had rather indicated that he was going on a last ride before
joining the rest of the group to eat.
According
to the source, the previous day, Saturday, all the friends, including Castro,
had a good time dancing to live band music at the resort.
No sign of body
Meanwhile,
in spite of several search missions conducted by the Marine Police at Ada,
helicopters of the Ghana Air Force and fishermen, as well as announcements made
at adjoining island villages on the incident, no success was registered.
Asamoah Gyan breaks silence
In a
related development, Asamoah Gyan has finally broken his silence since Castro and
his lady friend, Janet Bandu, went missing last Sunday by issuing a
statement.
He said
all the friends were broken by the incident and gave an assurance that all
attempts were being made to find their bodies, while asking anyone with
information on their whereabouts to make it known.
In a post
on his Facebook page, Asamoah Gyan wrote: “If tears could bring a stairway and
memories a lane, I’d walk right up to Heaven and bring you home again. When
someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. RIP bro. I
will forever miss you. I can’t just stop crying.”
Writer’s
email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh
This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on July 9, 2014
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