Foreign Affairs Minister to lead family delegation to Latvia over Ghanaian student’s death

Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says he will travel to Latvia to engage authorities over the death of a Ghanaian national, Nana Agyei Oduru Ahyia, whose case remains under investigation.

Mr Ablakwa announced on Monday that the delegation to the Baltic state will include representatives of the deceased’s family, as the government steps up efforts to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The minister made a Facebook post after meeting the family at the Foreign Ministry on December 23, 2025.

He said the ministry had, since the incident, carried out a series of interventions aimed at gathering facts and engaging Latvian authorities.

“I briefed the family on interventions carried out by the ministry following the loss of Nana Agyei,” Mr Ablakwa said in a statement shared on social media.

He said one of the early steps taken was the deployment of a fact-finding mission from Ghana’s embassy in Germany, which has concurrent accreditation to Latvia. According to him, the team has submitted a preliminary report to the ministry.

Mr Ablakwa said Latvian officials had informed Ghana that investigations into the death were still ongoing. He added that he had formally notified the Latvian government of his intention to hold talks with his counterpart and to engage investigators directly during the visit.

Nana Agyei Oduru Ahyia, 18, was a first-year Electrical Engineering student at Riga Technical University. He died on June 4, 2025.

Latvian authorities reportedly told the family that he had fallen from the sixth floor of his apartment on Baznicas Street in Riga. The family has challenged this account, citing a voice note the student sent three days before his death in which he said he had been poisoned.

A family spokesperson, Sarah Nimli, said the family rejected claims that Nana Agyei had taken his own life. “We were told he fell from the sixth floor and died, but we said that cannot be true. There is no way he would commit suicide,” she said.

The family also said attempts to reach Latvian police were unsuccessful, raising concerns about how the case was being handled, particularly as those suspected to be involved are believed to be Latvian nationals.

Nana Agyei’s remains were returned to Ghana on July 23, 2025, for burial.

Mr Ablakwa said the government would engage independent experts to review all investigative reports, including the final report expected from Latvian authorities, to guide Ghana’s next steps.

“The Government of Ghana will engage independent experts to analyse all investigative reports to inform our next steps in the interest of justice,” he said.

He reiterated his position that the available information does not support claims of suicide, adding that Ghanaian diplomats from the Berlin mission who assessed the case reached the same view.