Innocentia Atsufui Avinu, the 20-year-old University of Cape Coast (UCC) student who was reported missing last week, was discovered dead on the beach.

About twelve hours after her hostel roommate last saw her, her body was found at the Hutchland Beach region of Cape Coast, close to Duakor.

On June 11, 2026, at around 7 p.m., Innocentia received a phone call, dressed casually, and left the room, according to her roommate, with whom she shared a private hostel in the nearby hamlet of Amamoma.

She added that when Innocentia failed to return, her coworkers grew worried. As a result, attempts were made to find her the next day, but they were unsuccessful.

Innocentia Atsufui Avinu, was a Level 200 Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resources) student. 

Police are now looking into the circumstances of her death.

No Obvious Physical Injuries Observed
On Friday, June 12, 2026, at around 6am, inhabitants of the Duakor village reported to the police that a body had washed up on the beach.

According to a preliminary police report, when examining the body at the beach scene, the authorities found “no visible signs of physical injury.”

UCC’s statement

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has confirmed that police investigations are underway following the death of a student whose body was discovered along a beach in Cape Coast.

In a statement issued by the University’s Public Affairs Directorate on Sunday, June 14, 2026, UCC disclosed that law enforcement authorities have launched an inquiry to establish the circumstances surrounding the death of Innocentia Atsufui Avinu, a student of the institution.

According to the UCC District Police Commander, ASP Abdul Abubakar, residents of the Duakor Community reported at about 6:00 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2026, that a body had washed ashore on the beach. Police officers promptly responded to the report and proceeded to the scene to verify the information.

A preliminary examination conducted at the scene revealed no visible signs of physical injury on the body. The remains were subsequently transported to the mortuary at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) pending identification and further investigations.

Later that same day, investigators received information suggesting that the deceased might be a student of the University of Cape Coast. Following this lead, the Dean of Students’ Affairs was informed to assist with the identification process and related administrative procedures.

The investigation gained further clarity when the deceased’s roommate, who shared a private hostel room with her at Amamoma, a community near the university, reported to the police station with a photograph. The photograph helped authorities confirm the identity of the deceased as Innocentia Atsufui Avinu.

The roommate told police that she last saw Innocentia two days earlier at about 7:00 p.m. According to her account, the student received a phone call, dressed casually, and left the hostel room. Concern grew among friends and colleagues when she failed to return, prompting efforts to trace her whereabouts throughout the following day. However, those attempts were unsuccessful.

On Saturday, June 13, 2026, members of the deceased’s family visited the police station and were escorted to the mortuary, where they formally identified the body. Observations made during the identification process were consistent with the initial findings, as no physical injuries were detected.

ASP Abdul Abubakar indicated that police will obtain a coroner’s form from the court on Monday, June 15, 2026, to facilitate a post-mortem examination. The procedure will enable pathologists to determine the exact cause of death and provide further insight into the circumstances surrounding the case.

Meanwhile, the police have assured the public that investigations remain ongoing and that every effort is being made to establish the facts surrounding the student’s death.

The Inspector-General of Police’s Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team (CVET) has arrested a woman identified as Mahama Aminat, also known as Akosua Serwaa Minat, over allegations of issuing death threats against President John Dramani Mahama in a series of viral social media videos.

In a statement shared via Facebook on Thursday, May 21, 2026, the Police said the suspect appeared in multiple TikTok recordings that have since circulated widely online. In the videos, she is alleged to have made derogatory remarks about the President and issued threats directed at his life.

The Police further indicated that the content of the videos went beyond insults, adding that some of the statements were considered inciteful, with calls allegedly encouraging others to cause harm to both the President and his wife Lordina Mahama.

The statement added that following the emergence and spread of the videos on social media on Tuesday May 19, a joint team made up of the IGP’s Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team (CVET) and the Surveillance Unit of the National Operations Department launched investigations to trace the source of the recordings.

The suspect was subsequently arrested on Wednesday May 20, 2026, at Sekyere Zongo within the Sekyere Kumawu District.

Police say she is currently in custody assisting with investigations and is expected to be arraigned before court in the coming days as legal processes continue.

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The state has initiated major criminal proceedings against the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over an alleged multi-million-cedi agricultural loan fraud.

A formal charge sheet filed by the Prosecution Division of the Office of the Attorney-General on 15 May 2026 at the High Court in Accra alleges a web of deception involving altered financial receipts, non-existent farming operations, and a massive financial hit to Ghana EXIM Bank.

Chairman Wontumi, 50, alongside Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, who is currently at large, and their corporate entity, Wontumi Farms Limited, are facing four criminal counts.

These are defrauding by false pretence, uttering a forged document, money laundering, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public body.

According to the state’s brief facts signed by the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, the allegations trace back to January 2018.

Chairman Wontumi, acting as the Managing Director of Wontumi Farms Limited, allegedly approached the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank to request a ₵19 million credit and grant facility. The stated purpose of the funds was to establish an ambitious commercial cultivation venture.

To win over bank executives, the high-profile businessman allegedly made several grand representations.

He declared in his application letter that Wontumi Farms had successfully acquired a massive 100,000-acre parcel of land for the project. Furthermore, accompanying project proposals claimed that developing just 2,500 hectares (roughly 6,000 acres) of the site would create employment for 6,000 families, directly supporting an estimated 38,000 individuals.

However, state investigators allegedly uncovered significant irregularities dating back to the inception of the loan process.

The bank application was supported by a ‘Board Resolution Letter’ signed by Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, the Board Chairman.

The document stated that the application had been authorised during a board meeting on 9th December 2017, four clear days before Wontumi Farms Limited was legally incorporated and authorised to commence business on 14 December 2017.

Unaware of the chronological inconsistencies, the Ghana EXIM Bank allegedly extended a credit facility offer of GH₵18,734,260.00 to the company on 16 January 2018 to cover agricultural machinery, working capital, and staff consultancy fees.

Chairman Wontumi signed the acceptance agreement in Kumasi on 23rd January, 2018, and disbursements commenced shortly after, totalling GH₵14,302,000.00 by March 2018.

The second count on the charge sheet- uttering a forged document- centres around how the accused persons justified the spending of these state funds.

In March 2018,  Chairman Wontumi allegedly presented a document bearing the title ‘Receipt’ to the EXIM Bank to prove he had purchased GH₵4 million worth of specialised agricultural machinery. Relying entirely on this proof of purchase, the bank allegedly released subsequent tranches of funding.

State intelligence claims that the document was a fabrication. Investigations allegedly revealed the paper was originally a simple pro-forma price invoice issued by an enterprise known as KAS-SAMA Enterprise when Chairman Wontumi made casual pricing inquiries.

The business owner is said to have told detectives that the politician promised to return later to make the actual purchase, but was never seen or heard from again. Instead, the inscription ‘Pro-forma Invoice’ on the document was deliberately erased, altered, and replaced with ‘Receipt’ before being submitted to the bank.

The state further alleges that the grand agricultural vision was entirely a front. Intelligence operations conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) established that the accused persons did not clear a single acre of land, bought no machinery, and employed no farm labourers.

Instead, the prosecution alleges that Chairman Wontumi systematically withdrew the state funds from the corporate accounts of Wontumi Farms Limited, moving them into personal accounts to fund other luxury business enterprises. This forms the basis of Count Three, which charges him with laundering the proceeds of fraud between 2018 and 2022.

The state’s final charge relates to the overall financial devastation brought upon the public institution.

Count Four highlights that because of the total failure to execute the business transaction or service the debt, the Ghana EXIM Bank has been left with an institutional loss exceeding GH₵30,000,000.00 in principal and accumulated liabilities.

When extensive efforts allegedly by EXIM Bank officials to recover the outstanding funds were completely stonewalled by the accused, EOCO formally stepped in during March 2025.

Chairman Wontumi was subsequently arrested, cautioned, and officially hit with the charges on 14th May, 2026, leading to his arraignment.  

According to prosecutors, the second accused director, Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, is still at large.

Chairman Wontumi is presently lacing his boots to contest for the National Chairman position of the opposition NPP.

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