A fetish priestess, Florence Amo, has been arrested by the Eastern Region police for allegedly defrauding multiple bereaved families by falsely claiming responsibility for their loved ones’ deaths.
The fetish priestess’ accomplice Abraham Odotei is at large.
The fetish priestess’ deceitful tactics involve searching communities for obituary posters of affluent bereaved families.
She then approaches these families with fabricated allegations, asserting that the deceased had sought spiritual financial assistance, referred to locally as ‘Boame’, at her shrine.
However, the deceased failed to fulfil their end of the spiritual agreement, resulting in their untimely demise.
Exploiting the vulnerability of grieving families, the fetish priestess proceeds to threaten them, insisting on performing elaborate rituals, including appeasing the gods and demanding substantial sums of money before allowing the deceased to be buried.
She further warns that non-compliance will lead to additional deaths within the family, starting with those who organised the funeral.
Driven by fear, numerous families fell victim to her deception, paying significant amounts of money under duress.
Florence Amo’s arrest followed a report filed by a family that had previously fallen prey to her schemes.
Subsequent investigations revealed multiple victims with similar complaints.
Florence Amo has been remanded by the Koforidua Circuit Court ‘B’.
However, her defence counsel failed to appear in court twice for case management.
During the latest court session, the prosecution expressed concern over the defence counsel’s absence despite being served with necessary documents.
The presiding judge, Her Honour Matilda Ribeiro, emphasised that proceedings would continue without delay if a valid excuse were not provided.
Reluctantly granting Amo’s plea for another adjournment, the judge directed her to obtain the necessary disclosures.
In the event of the defence counsel’s continued absence, case management will commence on the next adjourned date, December 19, 2023.
