Man who incited people to burn Akufo-Addo's house over Covid-19 granted bail

The 24-year-old security man, who allegedly circulated a viral video inciting people to burn the house of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and kill police officers over the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000 with two sureties by an Accra Circuit Court.

Bless Amedegbe was granted bail following a bail application by his legal team.

As part of the bail conditions, one of the sureties must be a public officer earning not less than GH¢1,000,.

Amedegbe aka Don Dada Bless has pleaded not guilty to the charge of false communication contrary to Section 76(1) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and assault on a public officer contrary to section 205(A) of the Criminal and other offences Act 1960 Act (29).

Amedegbe allegedly made the video claiming Covid-19 was a hoax and that the restrictions imposed by the President was a ploy to allow the installation of 5G network in Ghana.

Hearing continues on June 10, 2020 at the court presided over by Justice Emmanuel Essandoh.

Bail Application

Making a case for bail, counsel for the accused , Mr Yaw Dankwa, urged the court to grant his client bail because he (Amedegbe) was not a flight risk but was willing to attend court proceedings to defend himself.

He said his client had people of substance who were willing to serve as sureties.

Also, counsel argued that his client would not interfere with investigations into the case when granted bail.

In response, the prosecution did not oppose the bail application but urged the court to set stringent conditions that would compel Amedegbe to always appear before the trial for the court.

5G conspiracy theory

Presenting the facts of the case, the Prosecutor, Detective Sergeant Frederick Sarpong, said after President Akufo-Addo imposed a partial lockdown in some parts of the country to help curb the spread of COVID-19, Amedegbe uploaded a video urging people to defy the lockdown, describing it as a hoax to push for the installation of 5G network.

The prosecutor said in the video Amedegbe claimed the 5G network would lead to deaths.

“Amedegbe incited people to rise up and set President Akufo-Addo’s house on fire and also kill any police officer enforcing the lockdown directives,” the prosecutor added.

The video, he said was circulated widely on many social media platforms such as WhatsApp and YouTube.

According to the prosecutor, Amedegbe was tracked and arrested on May 12.