Asamankese, May 5, GNA - Etienne Sankardja, a 41-year-old Togolese who allegedly sold an 18-year-old boy for 50 million cedis at Suhum has been remanded by a circuit court at Asamankese.

Sankardja, who pleaded not guilty will reappear on May 8. Presenting the facts of the case, Police Chief Inspector Joseph Idan said Sankardja was a trader who shuttled between Lome and Abidjan, On March 28, the Police had information that the accused was offering to sell a young boy at a hotel at Suhum.

He said the police visited the hotel and met Sankardja bargaining with someone who had feigned interest in buying the boy, whose name was given as Frederick Djelegu.

According to the prosecution, the "buyer" issued a 50-million-cedi fake cheque to the accused to be withdrawn at the South Akim Rural Bank at Nankese.

When the Police struck at the hotel, he said, the accused attempted to destroy the cheque but he was arrested and sent to the Police station.

During interrogation, Sankardja denied selling the boy he claimed to be his nephew and explained that he had brought him from Lome in the Republic of Togo to Ghana to find him a job, adding that he was offering the boy out for a fee of one million cedis a month in respect of his services for a period of five years.

The accused further explained that the 50 million-cedi, cheques found on him was part-payment for the boy's five-years' service.