The two watchmen who allegedly sexually abused a 14-year-old student with special needs at the Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School (BOGISS) have been granted bail by a Circuit Court in Bolgatanga, capital of Ghana’s Upper East Region.
The court granted the bail in the sum of Gh¢100,000 (USD 8,795.07; 7,592.84 euros) with two sureties each on Tuesday, 1 September 2026.
As part of the bail conditions, one of the two sureties must be a worker earning not less than Gh¢3,000 (USD263.85; 227.79 euros) a month. The court also ordered the accused persons to report themselves to the police once every two weeks.
The two watchmen, Adams Nyaaba Iddrisu, 72, and Elvis Adongo, 38, are employees of the Ghana Education Service (GES). They have been on interdiction since Wednesday, 19 August 2026. They are due to reappear in court on Thursday, 17 September 2026.
The Headmistress of the school, Gifty Ayamba, told Media Without Borders on Friday, 14 August 2026, that the two watchmen admitted before the school’s disciplinary committee that they sexually abused the girl.
Police arrested the suspects and the GES interdicted them after Media Without Borders broke the story on Tuesday, 18 August 2026.
How the abuse allegedly happened
The first assault is said to have happened in the last week of June 2026, just after the school’s regular evening studies, known as prep.
Media Without Borders was told the student was walking back to her dormitory when a watchman on night duty allegedly lured her to the back of the dining hall with a promise to buy food for her and had sexual intercourse with her.
Days later, a second alleged assault occurred at daybreak. The girl had gone to the security post at the main gate to collect her tablet, which she had left there overnight for charging, and the watchman on duty at the post allegedly had sex with her.
Sources at the school say each of the two guards abused her one more time in early July, bringing the total number of incidents to four.
School’s withdrawal of boarding status and government’s intervention
The school’s disciplinary committee withdrew the girl’s boarding status and converted her to a day student for one academic year, describing her in its earlier letter as “guilty of sexual misconduct” under the GES Code of Conduct, a label the girl’s family criticised and rejected.
The headmistress told Media Without Borders that although the Code provided for dismissal, the committee recommended day status instead because the watchmen had given the girl food and money and taken advantage of her, and because the special-needs student was not taking her prescribed medication consistently at school.
As the news of the alleged abuse spread, the Ministry of Education intervened, condemning the alleged abuse in a statement on 20 August 2026 and stating that a minor could be held responsible for sexual abuse perpetrated against her by an adult.
The ministry directed GES to restore the student’s boarding status immediately and ensure she received medical care and counselling, after which the school, in a letter dated 20 August 2026 signed by Headmistress Gifty Ayamba, reversed its earlier decision and restored the boarding status.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana/West Africa
