On Wednesday, October 10, 2023, the Ga East District of Accra was shocked by the dreadful display on social media, a display of the corpse of the deceased Chinasa Jennifer.
At the time, a press conference was called by the Nigerian Igbo leaders within the Dome, Kwabenya, and Ashongman areas to look into the gruesome death of the young woman, an affair that launched a formal investigation into the young lady’s passing.
While the investigation went on, the initial push for the truth then died down with the same alacrity with which it began.
The family of the deceased as well as the Igbo leaders that spearheaded this campaign eventually moved on from seeking justice.
Considering what my investigations have uncovered, these are my understandings of why this Chinasa Jennifer may never receive justice, and I would like to reiterate that these are the personal opinions of me, Kofi Parrot, and not the formal opinion of AccraVice, the Ghana Police, or any governmental, religious, or social body.
Chinasa Jennifer was presented as a young lady who was into trading with an online shop, and she was living in Ghana with her aunt. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and the truth of who she was and what she does is solely the reason why this will remain a dead case.
Chinasa Jennifer was a sex worker who frequented the Paramount Hotel; this is where she was known to service her clients, and where she eventually died, according to information from a resident I questioned when I went to speak to the hotel owner about the incident.
I never met the owner of the establishment, but from what I gathered from the people I met there, there was a clear effort to avoid answering any questions.
Even though there was clearly a burnt mattress within the compound of the paramount hotel and the availability of CCTV cameras on the outside of the hotel when they told others who came to investigate previously that there was known.
The hotel has remained in operation, and there have been no arrests made in respect to the murder.
While this is shocking, we must understand that if we have established that Chinasa Jennifer was a sex worker and she wasn’t even a citizen, it is common sense that her case is not a priority, This attitude towards sex worker victims from police is the same in every country.
The question is, why will the Ghana Police spend Ghanaian taxpayers money to pursue the murderer of a sex worker who isn’t even Ghanaian? Regardless of how cruel this seems, it’s still a matter of statistics and dynamics.
The only hope for Chinasa Jennifer to receive justice is for her murderer to murder again. Once this happens, should the police see a pattern, then and only then will they take up the case in full force.
For now, Chinasa Jennifer’s story will remain a sad and cautionary tale for Nigerian girls flooding Ghana for the sole purpose of sex work.
Since the death of Chinasa Jennifer, many others have gone missing or simply lost their lives while traveling the streets at night, calling out to customers who would want to engage them.
Let this story serve as a warning and let’s be guided.