A Cape Coast Circuit Court granted bail to three persons accused of attacking Elmina-based radio station Benya FM in the amount of GHC30,000 apiece with two sureties, one of whom must be justified.
Assault, unauthorized entrance, conspiracy to conduct a crime, theft, and inflicting unlawful damage have been charged against Isaac Opare Aikins, 25, a watchman; Michelle Asabre, 25, a premix fuel attendant; and Anthony Eshun, 32, a businessman.
When they appeared in front of Mrs Dorinda Smith-court Arthur's on Friday, they pled not guilty to all of the counts.
They'll be back on June 28, 2022. The complainants, according to Chief Inspector Theresa Agbavor, are Eric Blessing Eshun, a broadcaster, and Anthony Agyirfar, a technician, both of Benya Radio station.
She claimed that on Monday, May 16, 2022, at around 2000 hours, the complainants were on duty as presenter and producer, respectively, delivering their regular show, "Afarikua," a show for fishermen and farmers.
She said the host mentioned concerns with premix gasoline delivered to persons who were not fishermen or boat owners during the show.
The presenter also praised the Municipal Chief Executive for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo for enlisting the police in the gasoline delivery to prevent the canker, according to her.
According to Chief Inspector Agbavor, Aikins, Asabre, and Eshun assaulted the station on a motorcycle, scattering and damaging a variety of equipment, including a GHC2,500 studio mixer, two GHC500 headphones, five GHC20,000 monitors, six GHC6,000 system units, and three GHC180 keyboards.
They also allegedly damaged three GHC 4,500 office tables, two GHC 1,728 rolling chairs, and a GHC 40 Video Graphic Adaptor Cable, according to her.
According to the prosecution, the accused also broke into the project manager's office and stole an HP laptop worth GHC3,500.
They then confronted the presenter for disclosing their identities and beat him to a pulp, according to her. She went on to say that the producer who tried to save his colleague was also beaten up.
She said the complainants went to Elmina police and were given police medical paperwork to proceed to the hospital, while a patrol squad was sent to the media house to maintain order.
She informed the court that Aikins was detained on his way to Cape Coast, and that his questioning led to the arrests of Asabre and Eshun.
According to the prosecution, the accused agreed to the crimes during the inquiry, but explained that they went to seek explanations from the presenter about why their names were mentioned during the show.